OLLEGE OF AGRIULTURE & NATURAL RESOURES · OLLEGE OF AGRIULTURE & NATURAL RESOURES MASTER PLAN: A VISION AND ROADMAP FOR THE NEXT 25 YEARS ... viii. Sustainability. We will not only

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES

MASTER PLAN: A VISION AND

ROADMAP FOR THE NEXT 25 YEARS

[You can add an abstract or other key statement here. An abstract is typically a short summary of the document content.] 2013

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Table of Contents

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Master Plan

I. Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2

II. Mission, Vision, Values………………………………………………………………………………………... 5

III. Our Vision of the Future, Challenge and Opportunities…………………………………………. 6

IV. Unique Strengths, Partnerships and Attributes of CANR……………………………………….. 8

V. Teaching, Advising, Curriculum…………………………………………………………………………… 12

VI. Research and Discovery………………………………………………………………………………………. 19

VII. Cooperative Extension………………………………………………………………………………………… 23

VIII. Physical Space………………………………………………………………………..…………………………… 28

IX. Budgetary Principles for Accomplishing the Mission, Implementing the Vision…...… 32

X. Department of Animal and Food Sciences…………………………………………………………….. 39

XI. Department of Applied Economics and Statistics………………………………………………….. 53

XII. Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology………………………………………………….. 60

XIII. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences…………………………………………………………………. 68

XIV. Newark Farm……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 76

XV. Fischer Greenhouse and Growth Chamber Complex……………………………………………… 78

XVI. Academic Programs and Student Services……………………………………………………………. 82

XVII. Communications………………………………………………………………………………………………… 86

XVIII. Information Technology………………………………………………………………………………………. 104

XIX. Facilities…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 109

XX. Central Business Services……………………………………………………………………………………. 113

XXI. Elbert N. and Ann V. Carvel Research and Education Center…………………………………... 116

XXII. University of Delaware Botanic Gardens………………………………………………………………. 130

Appendix A. Master Planning Process……………………………………………………………………………………….. 132

Appendix B. External Stakeholder Input…………………………………………………………………………………… 133

Literature Cited……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 134

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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) envisions itself as an exceptional contributor to solving

the grand challenge of feeding the world while protecting the earth’s natural resources. With a commitment to

continuous quality improvement, CANR embarked on the development of a Master Plan to enable the College to

prepare its graduates to address the world’s grand challenges in agriculture and natural resources 25 years into

the future. The Master Plan is a flexible, “living document,” from which we will derive specific action plans. It also

includes individual unit plans with performance measures, against which we will measure progress. The Master

Plan results from a year-long discussion with members of CANR’s Advisory Board, administrative leadership

team, students, faculty, staff, alumni, legislators, and other external stakeholders.

A comprehensive examination of CANR’s external and internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

has provided the opportunity to advance the College in the areas of teaching, advising and curriculum; research

and discovery; Cooperative Extension; infrastructure; and budgetary principles for implementing the vision. The

Master Plan not only defines the mission, vision and values of the College, but articulates several goals within

each area of endeavor that will lead to significant impact on the challenges faced in agriculture and natural

resources. To contribute exceptionally to the grand challenge of sustaining agriculture and natural resources into

the future, CANR must achieve the following major goals:

Selective Excellence

Achieve selective excellence in areas that define and guide us, are relevant to our stakeholders, and complement

the work of our partner institutions. While we strive for excellence in everything that we do, we do not

endeavor to do everything that relates to agriculture and natural resources. The College has achieved

selective excellence in several areas, including: 4-H and youth development; avian biosciences; ecology; food

safety; genetics and genomics; integrated pest management; natural resource economics, experimental

economics and policy; public horticulture; soil and water quality, nutrient management, irrigation; wildlife

conservation; and pre-veterinary medicine. To remain relevant to future stakeholders and students, the

College must develop excellence in the areas of: mitigation and adaptation of agriculture, ecosystems and the

environment to climate change; data analytics and statistics; legal and regulatory policy; sustainable

landscapes and ecosystems; urban agriculture; “One Health,” integrating plant, animal, ecosystem and

human health.

Teaching, Advising and Curriculum:

Grow and diversify enrollment. With nearly two career opportunities for every graduate, we must close

the gap between the societal demand for agriculture and natural resource professionals and the supply

of graduates in these fields. In an increasingly diverse world, the demographics of our student body

must change to take full advantage of the diversity present in our society that can provide better

solutions to the world’s grand challenges.

Broaden and improve student learning outcomes. Preparing the next generation of leaders in agriculture

and natural resources will require new approaches to curriculum and teaching, including streamlined,

flexible curricula; the creation of “T-shaped” students with emphasis on professional skill development;

as well as an emphasis on innovative approaches, interdisciplinary, and discovery learning

opportunities. We must fully develop and communicate the value proposition of a CANR education in

terms of the outcomes, competencies, and agency in our graduates.

Greater teaching collaboration across and outside of the college. We will enrich curricula and courses by

leveraging expertise across campus, in Cooperative Extension, and at partner institutions such as USDA,

EPA, DNREC, DDA, and other universities.

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Research and Discovery

Ensure that future research is more selective in scope, more collaborative and interdisciplinary in nature,

more relevant to stakeholders, and more competent for limited funding. To that end, our unique strengths

in research will fall into the headings of 1) genetics and genomics; 2) mitigation of and adaptation to

climate change; 3) a “one health” approach to animal, plant, human and ecosystems; 4) sustainable food

systems, landscapes and ecosystems; and 5) the human dimensions of agriculture and natural resources.

Build a more robust research infrastructure. We must reexamine how we utilize our resources, both

human and physical, in the execution of the research mission. We envision a future that is more flexible

and collaborative, and utilizes resources more efficiently to achieve greater impact. We will leverage our

existing partnerships and seek new ones to achieve this goal.

Cooperative Extension and Outreach

Establish UD Cooperative Extension as a premier broker of unbiased, research-based, evidence-informed

information across the state and nation. We will support unique strengths in 1) profitable and

competitive agriculture; 2) environmental protection and natural resource conservations; 3) farm, small

business, and family resource management; 4) food safety and security, nutrition and health; and 5)

youth STEM development, and volunteer leadership.

Statewide focus and integrated structure. In a relatively small and homogenous state, we expect to

market and deliver 80% of our current county-based programs statewide by 2018. As UD seeks the

Carnegie “engaged university” designation, we will lead efforts to integrate Extension across

appropriate UD colleges.

Create and implement a sustainable funding model. A more diversified portfolio of funding sources with

less reliance on federal capacity funds is achievable and will be pursued. Three major new sources of

revenue include tuition, cost recovery and gifts.

Enhance scholarship and leadership, and stress programmatic impact. Extension professionals will

enhance their scholarly contributions to research and outreach, and we will shift our focus in evaluation

from activities to impact for a minimum of one statewide program each year. We will strengthen the

program leader role to include responsibilities for grants and contracts, partner and agency linkages

and cross-college integration.

Utilize technology in educational delivery. A growing proportion of our stakeholders desire access to

information 24/7 and wish to receive programming in an entirely digital or hybrid format. We will

optimize current digital initiatives, enhance web presence, and market to new audiences through social

media.

Develop a strategy for meeting the population needs in Wilmington. As the state’s largest and most

diverse population center, we will align Extension programs with the needs of Wilmington residents.

Infrastructure

Secure a renovation of Worrilow Hall as the College’s major research laboratory space. Alternatively,

construct one new building with more open-concept, flexible spaces that can accommodate a variety of

uses and people.

Build attractive, welcoming, flexible and functional spaces. Whether classroom, lab, lobby or office, we

must create desirable workspaces and project a positive image as renovations are undertaken. We must

be especially conscious of designs that anticipate changing needs.

Create a fair, transparent space allocation system. In 2013, the CANR Space Committee was created to

provide a college-wide, shared governance mechanism for space allocation.

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Budgetary Principles for Implementing the Vision

Maximize transparency in budgeting, and reduce risk by diversifying the funding portfolio. Fund allocation

within the College should be as transparent and predictable as possible; a detailed annual report will be

published beginning in FY14. New revenue sources including, but not limited to, royalties, fees, and

online learning can compensate for expected cuts in federal capacity funds, state funds, and certain

grant programs.

Implement more aggressive cost recovery, and reduce costs by enhanced efficiency. In 2013, the College

developed a Cost Recovery Committee to advise the dean’s office on new strategies and policies for

achieving financial sustainability. This shared governance mechanism will examine cost recovery

strategies for teaching, research and Extension programs, and also look at opportunities for additional

revenue generation. Likewise, we value efficiency and return on investment, and therefore will seek

ways of reducing costs without sacrificing quality of service.

Create a surplus for unforeseen circumstances and reinvestment. The College should endeavor to set aside

1-2% of its annual budget for unforeseen circumstances each year, reinvesting these funds in mission-

critical areas at the year’s end if such circumstances do not arise. At least 50% of any budget surplus

should be dedicated to facility upgrades and maintenance annually for the foreseeable future.

Centralize salaries and space, create clear priorities for allocation. In FY13, salary and space were

centralized, and in the future will be allocated together according to college-level priorities, not simply

historical levels of allocation.

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II. MISSION, VISION, VALUES

a) Mission: Fundamentally, the mission of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is

synonymous with the Land Grant mission - the generation, translation and dissemination of

knowledge in the public interest. Agriculture and natural resource issues affect everyone, every day,

thus we play an exemplary role in fulfilling the Land Grant mission of the University of Delaware.

b) Vision: We envision a college that contributes exceptionally to the overall mission of Land Grant

colleges of agriculture and related sciences in areas of unique strength that define and guide us, are

relevant to our stakeholders, and have impact on Delaware, the region and the world.

c) Values:

i. Diversity. We believe that fostering diversity of backgrounds, views and values among our

ranks leads to better graduates, better research, and better service for our stakeholders.

ii. Efficiency and return on investment. We will run an efficient and fruitful enterprise that

returns more to those who pay tuition, taxes and endow us with gifts and grants than they

generously provide on our behalf.

iii. Impact. We will measure our success by the impact we have on students, stakeholders and

society. Outcomes are more important than activities.

iv. Quality. We will define ourselves by the quality of what we do, not the quantity of what

we’ve done.

v. Relevance. We will generate, translate and disseminate objective, data-driven information

that ultimately enriches the lives of the public we serve. Everyone eats, and everything is

dependent on our natural resources, and we are committed to solving problems of local and

global relevance within these areas.

vi. Selective Excellence. We value excellence in all that we do, but do not endeavor to do

everything. We will build on our unique strengths or create them anew in areas where we

have or can achieve excellent outcomes, and allow other areas to be supported by our

partners.

vii. Service. As an integral component of a major research university, our work is performed to

serve students, stakeholders, industries and agencies exceptionally well.

viii. Sustainability. We will not only generate and translate but will practice sustainable

agriculture and sustainable use of the earth’s precious natural resources. We will lead by

example.

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III. OUR VISION OF THE FUTURE

The pace of change in agricultural production accelerates with each passing generation, hence the need

for strategic change within Land Grant universities. We celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act in

2012, which created Land Grant universities and colleges like ours, and we reflected on all of the changes,

positive and negative, during that time. The first 150 years of the implementation of the Morrill Act saw many

successes, and also introduced some of the challenges we currently face. Now that we approach the close of

2013, we ponder what the next 150 years will bring, but we believe that the fundamentals will remain

unchanged for the foreseeable future – teaching, research, and outreach in the public interest. The first green

revolution was about creating better crop varieties and animal breeds, mechanization, and inputs such as

fertilizers, pesticides and vaccines. The second green revolution will again involve genetics and high-tech

mechanization, but will seek to reduce or optimize chemical inputs to minimize environmental impact, reduce

costs, protect our arable lands for future production and improve public perception. In any case, we will need

better decision making tools – rapid access to reliable information will be required to reach yield goals and feed

9-10 billion people by 2050 (Evans, 1998).

The same rapid pace of change applies to natural resources and the environment. In fact, the predicted

changes in mean climate and climate variability may manifest relatively large departures from normal in the

coming decades. Natural resource managers will need better data on what is happening and when, and

predictive ability will be imperative. Since agriculture is also dependent on the earth’s natural resource base,

changes in climate and the environment will affect agricultural productivity and food quality, just as agricultural

practices affect the environment in terms of soil, air and water quality. The college enjoys expertise in both

agriculture and natural resource disciplines and is therefore uniquely poised to make important contributions to

our collective future. In the next 25 years, we must provide solutions for solving one of the world’s grand

challenges – providing a safe, affordable, nutritious food supply for a growing population while minimizing the

footprint of agriculture.

Delaware is a state with a diverse and economically important agricultural industry and a richness of

natural resources (Awokuse et al., 2010). For decades, the College has contributed to the state’s agricultural

enterprise and to the conservation of its natural resources, and will continue to be relevant to Delaware for

decades to come. While the specific contributions we make will change over time, the impact of our work on the

state, region and world will only grow. This Master Plan will serve as a vision and roadmap for the future of the

College. Our vision of the future is conditioned by the following trends (Table 1).

Table 1. Global trends that condition the future of the College (various sources; CANR administrative

retreat June 20, 2013)

Things that will increase Things that will decrease

Global Trends

World Population (2-3 billion by 2050) and associated population stresses on food production and the environment

Natural resources, pristine areas, wildlife habitat

Increased population in urban and suburban areas Stagnant or declining population in rural areas

Mean global temperature, sea level and climate variability

Historic climates for agriculture and ecosystems

Life expectancy, aging population; amount of tax dollars to support elderly

Discretionary spending for the working population; government funding of agriculture and natural resource science and education

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Availability of knowledge Ease with which the “right” knowledge can be found and applied to a specific problem

News and information via the Internet, social media; digital communication

News, information and communication from TV, radio and print sources

Degree of economic development in developing countries

The degree of dominance that the US exerts on the world economy

Health care costs; obesity and nutrition-related illnesses, recognition of the benefits of a health-conscious lifestyle

Ignorance of preventative medicine; intolerance for self-inflicted health problems; shift away from certain types of food

“Clean and green” industries, marketing approaches, products and services

Purchasing decisions based solely on price and quality; consumers will care more about how/where things are produced and the indirect consequences

Cost of food, food scarcity Food availability in areas of need

Biofuels, alternative energy, energy efficiency Fossil fuel use (decrease after 2050?)

Sensors and satellites for real-time environmental monitoring

Empirical sampling, data gaps, need for interpolation and assumptions

Urban agriculture, local food production Percentage of population involved in large-scale food production

Precision agriculture, biocontrol, adaptive and prescriptive approaches; associated farm input costs

Calendar-based cultural practices, broad spectrum pesticide use, applicability of methods developed in other regions

Government regulation of agricultural production and environmental issues

Time and resources available for workplace needs other than government compliance

Invasive species, new diseases and pests of animals, plants, and humans

Pesticide and antibiotic efficacy

Genetic yield potential and yield of most crops Availability of arable land and tolerance for low-yield approaches to agriculture

Applications of genetics and genomics in animal and plant improvement

Diversity of genetic background in major crop plants, animal breeds; traditional landrace varieties in cultivation

Appetite for meat and dairy products in the developing world

Land available for crops other than feed and forage

Robotics – milking, mechanical harvest, postharvest & processing, etc.

Hand labor in production and processing

Irrigated acres, irrigation efficiency, drought tolerance of crops

Availability of water for irrigation due to competition with urban and environmental uses

Things that will increase Things that will decrease

Higher Education Trends

Students interested in life sciences and environmental sciences

Students interested in traditional agricultural disciplines

Societal need for graduates of agriculture & natural resource colleges

Tolerance by employers for graduates that lack basic professional skills such as communication, critical thinking, accountability, etc.

Cost of higher education, student loan debt Access to traditional higher education by low income families; willingness to tolerate tuition increases

The percentage of underrepresented minorities and non-traditional students in college

Percentage of traditional-aged, white suburban students in college

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High quality online and blended learning Lecturing, particularly large lecture hall approaches

Data analytics, “Big data” researchers and practitioners

Demand for graduates that lack good quantitative skills in agriculture and natural resources

e-advising, learning analytics, and tools for student self-assessment and tracking

The need for routine advising

Competency-based and prior-learning credits, dual enrollment in high schools, alternative forms of credentialing

The need for certain “Gen Ed” and introductory level courses; the practice of all coursework being obtained from one entity

Open educational resources, MOOCs, other online resources

Traditional textbooks and lab manuals

Digital media centers, information commons areas, group learning, problem-based learning environments

Traditional classrooms

Emphasis on graduate education at research universities

Attention and resources directed toward traditional undergraduate education

Lifelong education and programs to aid transitions to second, third, or fourth careers

Programs that prepare graduates for one specific career

Interdisciplinary teams to address major issues in research, teaching and outreach

Single investigator research and extension programs, single instructor courses

Experiential learning, internships, work experience, co-op programs, special problems and research; all to promote career readiness

The need for extensive training and orientation programs as employers on-board graduates to new positions

IV. UNIQUE STRENGTHS, PARTNERSHIPS, RESOURCES AND ATTRIBUTES OF CANR

A unique strength is an area of selective excellence to which we devote resources such as positions,

infrastructure, and funding. The College is currently known for several unique strengths as outlined below.

(Table 2) A main objective of the Master Plan is to position the college to have a set of unique strengths relevant

to the world’s grand challenges 25 years into the future, and we must begin the planning now to develop new

strengths and to enhance and maintain existing strengths.

Table 2. Current and future unique strengths of the College.

Current strengths Future strengths we will need

4-H and youth development Avian biosciences and disease Ecosystem sciences and biodiversity Experimental economics Food safety Genetics and genomics Integrated pest management Natural resource economics and policy Public horticulture Soil and water quality, nutrient

management, irrigation Wildlife and habitat

conservation/restoration Pre-veterinary medicine and animal

biology

Climate science – mitigation and adaptation in agriculture, ecosystems and environment

Quantitative sciences: data analytics, predictive modeling, statistics related to large data sets

Legal and regulatory policy Sustainable landscapes and ecosystems Urban agriculture Integration of plant, animal and ecosystem

health expertise with human health – a “one health” initiative

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a) Partnerships. We enjoy a richness of partner institutions within two hours of the Newark campus.

The following serve as examples (Table 3), but the list is far from inclusive of all partnerships:

Table 3. Current and future partnerships needed to leverage resources and achieve selective

excellence in College programs.

Current partnerships Future partnerships needed to support unique strengths

Botanic gardens: Longwood, Winterthur, Chanticleer, Mt Cuba, National Arboretum, Morris Arboretum, Scott Arboretum/ Swarthmore

State, Federal, private agencies/resources: Delaware Department of Agriculture, Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Delaware Nature Society, Delaware Center for Horticulture, Delmarva Poultry Industry, Tri-State Bird Rescue, Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, major US museums (DC, NY, PHL), US Fish & Wildlife Service, Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service, USDA-APHIS and USDA-ARS station in Wyndmoor, PA, USDA’s Beneficial Insect Research Unit located on the Newark Farm

Agricultural industry headquarters, research facilities: DuPont, Poultry companies such as Perdue, Produce Marketing Association, Merck Animal Health

Allied Universities: Four Land Grants (Delaware State, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, University of Maryland-College Park, Rutgers), formal partnerships with three; bovine and equine research partners with the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School and New Bolton farm

International: China Agricultural University, Universidade Federal Lavras, Brazil

Stronger, more plentiful and different industry partners to support research and Extension programs as federal capacity funds likely decline

Stronger relationships and collaborations with EPA and similar organizations focused on environmental issues relevant to the College

A broader range of global partner universities with faculty expertise complementary to ours

Industry and agency partners that can support internships and work experiences for a larger number of students

Stronger relationships between the governing bodies of the three Delaware counties and Cooperative Extension to support programs that directly affect their constituents

Stronger links to high schools and community colleges to encourage enrollment or transfer into our undergraduate programs

Partnership with firms that can provide services to help utilize technology in teaching and outreach

International partners that provide opportunities in all mission areas across a range of unique strengths

Partnerships help leverage resources and accomplish our mission, increase the diversity of

thought among our people, and expand our capabilities. In the future, we must explore additional

partnerships as collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches will be needed for solving problems and

educating students well. Technology will allow us to extend partnership arrangements beyond the

mid-Atlantic region in the future, and we must be looking beyond our immediate horizon to find

logical affiliations nationally and internationally. While we cannot name the specific partnerships

that we will enjoy 25 years from now, the types of partners needed are listed in Table 3.

b) Resources. Current resources that facilitate our mission and future resources needed to maintain or

enhance our mission are listed in Table 4.

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Table 4. Current and future resources for the College.

Current resources Future resources needed to support unique strengths

The Newark farm, or “350-acre outdoor classroom,” is located next to the buildings we occupy. More than just a farm, it contains woodlands, wetlands, streams, grasslands, and other natural habitat, and performs ecosystem services for the University of Delaware.

The CC Allen Lab is the only Biosafety level-3 facility at the University of Delaware. It is used for poultry disease research.

The Carvel Research and Education Center lies in the heart of the agricultural industry and sensitive environmental areas of the state. It complements rather than duplicates the Newark farm and provides the main point of outreach and interchange between the college and its stakeholders.

The Lasher Lab in Georgetown, which provides disease surveillance, as well as avian health research and outreach to the poultry industry.

Warrington Irrigation Research Farm, near Georgetown, consists of 95 acres of agricultural land and 41 acres of woodland.

The University of Delaware Botanic Gardens surround the buildings of the Newark campus, and provide teaching and outreach opportunities for stakeholders.

The New Castle and Kent County Extension offices provide additional space for research, extension and teaching programs.

New research lab facilities will be needed to replace those in Worrilow Hall that have or will soon exceed their useful lifetime.

Funding will need to be obtained through philanthropy, grants, contracts, and in-kind services to sustain our farms as operating expenses and maintenance escalate.

Endowments will be needed to support key faculty, professionals, and new/upgraded facilities that underpin our unique strengths.

Renovations to Townsend Hall, the CC Allen Lab, Lasher Lab and the Carvel Center will be required toward the end of the 25 year period under consideration. Ideally, the renovations would be made over time to maintain optimal use of the facilities and avoid large disruptions of work and capital required to perform the renovations.

Access will be needed to facilities and resources off-site such as Penn Farm, DuPont Stine-Haskell, Longwood Gardens, and Delaware Nature Society in lieu of expanding or duplicating resources on campus.

Attributes. Several attributes make the College unique among colleges at UD or compared to other colleges of

agriculture and related sciences in the region. We must continue to exploit and market these attributes to

present our value proposition to external clientele, including prospective students and their families, colleagues

at other institutions and across campus, government officials and the general public that we serve.

CANR has expertise in biological, physical, and social sciences and can thus address the human

dimensions of problems, as well as the underpinning science.

Extension engages us with our stakeholders, deliberately aligns us with the core values of UD, and

provides a strong sense of relevance and value to Delawareans.

CANR provides a small college feel within the context of a larger research university. We must preserve

this attribute as we grow enrollment in the College.

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World-class faculty in many disciplines are approachable and accessible to students, stakeholders,

industry and communities. We must upgrade our facilities and grow our reputation in select areas to

attract the finest new hires to replace retiring faculty.

CANR is located in the heart of the east coast megalopolis, and its 350-acre Newark farm is largely

within the city limits. This provides excellent opportunities for urban agriculture and studying the

urban-agriculture interface. Similarly, it provides an appropriate context for studying natural resource

issues in a human dominated landscape. It also facilitates close relationships with a number of partners

(e.g., Table 3). The juxtaposition of urban, agricultural, and natural land use types will only intensify in

our region over the next 25 years.

CANR enjoys unusually strong relationships with state and federal legislators and regional agencies in

part due to the small size of Delaware relative to other states, but largely through our relevance to key

sectors of the state’s economy. We must work diligently to maintain these relationships as the

population grows and legislators are faced with new challenges in the future.

CANR students enjoy strong placement upon graduation. The USDA has documented two jobs for every

graduate of a college like ours (Goecker et al., 2010), lower post-graduation rates of unemployment

compared to most majors (Carnevale & Cheah, 2013), and strong placement in graduate and

professional schools. These trends have been apparent since the 1990s and will likely continue well into

the future.

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V. TEACHING, ADVISING AND CURRICULUM

a) Current status and likely future

Among the seven colleges at the University of Delaware, CANR is known for its applied curricula, approachable

professors, hands-on coursework, quality advisement, small class size, high rates of job placement upon

graduation, and vast outdoor teaching resources located right on the main campus. Additionally, we have a

satellite campus in Georgetown that could play a larger role in the teaching mission. Students appreciate the

“small school feel within a larger research institution” that is often touted in our recruitment literature. The

overall picture is positive, except that the relatively low enrollment does not address the societal need for

graduates in the agriculture and natural resource disciplines, and also creates vulnerabilities relative to the

University’s budget process (see section IX). Nationwide, there are approximately two employment opportunities

for every graduate of a college like CANR, a trend that has been in existence since before 1990 and will likely

continue well in to the future (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Projected

average annual

employment

opportunities and

available graduates in

agricultural and natural

resource fields of study,

United States, 1990-

2010. Source: US Dept of

Labor Monthly Labor

Review, February 2004,

and National Center for

Education Statistics

Completion Reports.

In 2013, CANR enrolled about 4.5% of the students at UD and taught 3.5% of the Student Credit Hours (SCH) at

the undergraduate level. The College supports 18 majors with about 31 FTE currently devoted to teaching; each

FTE produces 546 SCH/year.

Figure 2. Unduplicated undergraduate

headcount enrollment trend in CANR, 2000

through 2013.

Undergraduate enrollment has varied over the

last decade, but there is no overall trend during

that time period (Figure 2). Enrollment rose to

715 undergraduate students in Fall 2013, the

highest in a decade. This relatively flat enrollment trend is in contrast to most colleges of agriculture and related

sciences in the nation, who have experienced, on average, about a 20% increase in undergraduate enrollment in

0

200

400

600

800

1998 2002 2006 2010 2014

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recent years (FAEIS, 2013; Figure 3). This makes CANR

the second smallest college at UD in terms of

undergraduate enrollment, which highlights one of its

vulnerabilities.

Figure 3. Nationwide enrollment trends in colleges

of agriculture and related sciences at the

undergraduate (top) and graduate (bottom) levels.

The overall enrollment trend for the period 2004-

2011 is +21% at the undergraduate level (FAEIS

database, 2013).

At the graduate level, CANR averages just over two

students per faculty member, on par with the best

agricultural and natural resource research institutions

in the country. In the five years preceding this

document (to 2008), CANR averaged about 175

graduate students, about 5% of the total UD enrollment,

with no apparent trend up or down. The breakdown of

Fall 2012 enrollment (total=188 students) is shown in Figure 4. In contrast to strong upward trends in

undergraduate enrollment, graduate enrollment in colleges of agriculture and related sciences nationwide has

been largely constant in recent years, similar to CANR (Figure 3). Many qualified applicants are turned away

each year due to a lack of funding for stipends and/or tuition waivers.

Figure 4. Unduplicated headcount

enrollment of graduate students by

department, Fall 2012.

Higher education has experienced a

number of changes in recent years, and has

received much criticism as student loan

debt has topped credit card debt in the

USA, and tuition/fees have increased at

twice the rate of inflation in the last 30

years (Hauptman, 2013). Massive open

online courses (MOOCs), for-profit universities, dual enrollment, online education, alternative credentialing (e.g.,

badges), and the flipped classroom represent just some of the “disruptive innovations” that challenge the status

quo. Still, most public universities, including UD, continue with a traditional lecture-based, classroom instruction

model that has persisted for centuries. The growth rate of enrollment in online and hybrid (part live, part online)

classes and programs has been five- to ten-fold that of traditional face-to-face education for several years (Allen

and Seaman, 2013). Recent research suggests that the learning outcomes are as good as or better in online and

hybrid delivered courses than those in traditional face-to-face courses (US Dept of Education, 2009).

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While the future of teaching and learning at public land grant institutions is uncertain, the trend away from

traditional face-to-face instruction and curricula will likely continue, and we must therefore endeavor to

fundamentally change our curricula and pedagogy to remain relevant and effective. Employers of college

graduates have stressed the need for greater attention to a general set of professional skills, such as critical

thinking, problem solving, accountability, and effective teamwork (Hart Research Associates, 2013). This

suggests that the pendulum needs to swing back from the highly technical, content-rich curricula of the past

several decades toward a more general, broadly applicable, rounded education. This will be a challenging and

significant departure from the norm, as our teaching styles and course structures are deeply rooted in our

culture. The following are goals that will guide our efforts in teaching and learning for the next 25 years:

b) Goals

i. Grow and diversify enrollment in select areas at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In

late 2012, the dean announced a goal of increasing undergraduate enrollment 15% by

2015, or the “15 by 15” plan. This would add about 100 undergraduate students to the

College and was motivated by the societal need for graduates in agriculture and natural

resource disciplines. While this goal is attainable with greater effort toward recruiting,

longer term we must endeavor to do more to close the gap between the number of career

opportunities and the number of graduates. In particular, there is strong enough demand to

double the number of graduates in the following fields:

1. Food science and technology, food safety

2. Marketing, sales and management of agricultural and natural resource

products and services

3. Statistics, biostatistics and quantitative biology and economics

4. Environmental and natural resource sciences, including climate science,

conservation, regulatory policy, and alternative energy

5. Genetics, breeding, and biotechnology

6. Sustainable agriculture (broad-based)

We should endeavor to reach national averages for numbers of graduates in all of our

majors by 2025 (as documented in the IPEDS and FAEIS databases), and make the

curricular changes today that will allow us to attract and retain more undergraduates.

Equally important will be reaching national averages for diversity in our student body,

again assessed through national databases. At the same time, we must be mindful not

to diminish the quality of instruction as enrollment grows to target levels.

At the graduate level, our enrollment could easily grow by 15% or more if more funding

were available. Space availability would not constrain growth of ~15%, but beyond this

level, new spaces for graduate offices and research laboratories would likely be needed.

As graduate education aligns largely with research capabilities, select programs for

growth will reflect the unique strengths in research and discovery listed in section VI.

More specific areas for growth include:

1. Professional Master’s degree programs. Non-thesis MS degrees and graduate

certificates have become more popular as students seek to distinguish

themselves from others in a competitive workplace. The best example is the

non-thesis MS program in Statistics, which has doubled in enrollment in about

five years, and has more growth potential.

15

2. PhD program in Applied Economics. Only one of four departments in the college

lacks a PhD program – Applied Economics and Statistics. A recent external

program review identified the need to develop such a program for the

department to improve its rankings and produce highly skilled economists for

this growing sector of agriculture and natural resources.

3. A genetics and genomics undergraduate/graduate program. An integrated

approach to education in this vital area includes MS and PhD degrees, as well

as a pipeline for recruiting from BS and 4+1 BS/MS programs.

4. A series of 4+1 programs in select fields. In a 4+1 program, students can obtain a

BS and a Master’s degree in five years, saving a significant amount of money

and time compared to the traditional route of a 4-year BS followed by a 2-year

Master’s degree. One example would pair a number of undergraduate BS

degrees with an MA in Agricultural Education, allowing a path to teacher

certification for CANR students who wish to pursue middle and high school

teaching careers.

From a budgetary perspective, the College can afford to grow graduate enrollment to a

“break-even” level. Currently, 80-85% of the funds awarded to the College for graduate

tuition are immediately expended on graduate tuition waivers. The net tuition revenue

to the College (~$900,000 projected in FY14) is further eroded by payment of

~$3300/student in allocated expenses. The result is a 6% net revenue projected to the

College for FY14, thus we are currently near the break-even point. The net tuition

revenue predominantly comes from self-paying students, and to a lesser extent, from

students whose tuition and allocated costs are written into grants and contracts or

provided by the UD Graduate Office. Clearly, more self-funded students are needed,

faculty should be incentivized to include more funding for graduate students in grants

and contracts, and development opportunities should be sought that will support

graduate studentships.

ii. Reach students in other colleges through service courses, minors, internships, and

extracurricular activities. While only a small proportion of the undergraduate

students at UD will take a major within CANR, every student should know

something about food and natural resource issues in order to be better informed of

how their food choices and personal behavior affects agriculture and the

environment. Service courses and minors should be designed to permit entry of

students from diverse disciplines, but should be rigorous, meaningful experiences.

Clubs should attract students of all backgrounds, and events such as Ag Day and

Evening in the Garden should be structured to attract non-majors to our part of the

campus. Internships, special projects and undergraduate research opportunities

should also be open to non-majors who wish to expand their horizons.

iii. Student outcomes: Create “T-shaped” students. In recent years, employers have been

vocal about the types of skills and attributes they need in college graduates. The

concept of “T-shaped” students has been discussed extensively at IBM regarding

the development of a better IT workforce, but has nearly universal relevance across

disciplines (Donofrio et al., 2009). Figure 5 illustrates the T-shaped student

concept. Basically, employers of our graduates believe that we need to broaden the

top of the T by using different pedagogical methods, requiring internships/work

experiences, and making the curriculum more interdisciplinary. To remain relevant

to society, higher education needs to embrace this approach. CANR should revise

16

its curricula and teaching methods with the goal of producing workplace-ready

graduates that can solve problems requiring interdisciplinary approaches. More

specifically, the learning outcomes of our teaching programs should include the

attributes listed across the top of the T, and we should develop appropriate metrics

to assess these learning outcomes prior to graduation.

Figure 5. An illustration of the “T-shaped Student,” as envisioned by College leadership and

informed by employer surveys.

iv. Innovation & discovery learning. Critics like Mark Twain have argued that lecture is

a process of transferring the instructor’s notes to the student’s notebooks without

going through the minds of either party. In reality, lectures can be stimulating and

effective teaching tools in many situations, but overreliance on this or any single

form of pedagogy has limitations for student learning. The College is known for its

commitments to experiential learning, study abroad, hands-on and, to a lesser

extent, problem-based and online learning. Innovative approaches, if embraced

strongly, not only improve learning outcomes but can help to distinguish CANR from

similar colleges in the region, and make us a student’s top choice for enrollment in

agriculture and natural resource disciplines. As strongly as UD has distinguished

itself in study abroad, we should endeavor to distinguish CANR as the college of

choice for students seeking discovery learning and other innovations in teaching

and learning. Every curriculum in CANR should incorporate opportunities for

innovation and discovery learning in every semester.

v. Streamlined, flexible curricula. During the fall of 2012, Stamats, Inc., a higher

education marketing firm, consulted with CANR on 1) the effectiveness of the web

site for recruiting students and 2) the viability of various undergraduate majors

based on national and regional benchmarking. The main conclusions were that 1)

the College’s website was relatively ineffective for student recruitment and could

be improved, and 2) undergraduate curricula could be streamlined into fewer,

broader majors with concentrations or options within them. The College should

Breadth

17

reduce the number of highly specialized, low enrollment programs in favor of

broader, more flexible, better enrolled majors. Ideally, ~2 majors per department

(with concentrations in subdisciplines) should be sufficient to produce graduates

across a range of career tracks. Majors will be regularly evaluated for enrollment

and output of graduates, and those with enrollment below threshold for three

years running should be merged or eliminated following review.

vi. Online and hybrid delivery. National trends, peer-reviewed research, and student

preference all strongly suggest that the College should continue to develop online

modules, courses and programs to remain relevant to our current students and

attract new, place-bound students to our College. Quality must not be sacrificed for

reduced cost or efficiency as we grow online offerings. Fortunately, research on

teaching and learning suggests that the quality of instruction can be maintained or

even enhanced using technology (US Dept of Education, 2009). Greater support

will be needed to assist instructors as they develop online materials and this will

require an investment by the College in instructional design and technology. The

College should set a goal of 30% of its teaching online by 2020. The 30% figure

represents the proportion of all college students in the USA (in 2010-2011) who

have taken at least one course online; this figure grows annually. Also, 30% is the

threshold amount of online delivery that classifies a course or program as blended

or hybrid learning (Allen and Seaman, 2013). Thus, 30% is a minimal figure

relative to higher education trends in the USA.

vii. Teaching expectations and assessment. In research, we evaluate faculty based on the

entirety of their programs – publications, grants, presentations, graduate and

undergraduate involvement, professional development and other items that

constitute a whole. However, in teaching, faculty are generally evaluated for the

number of courses/credits they teach and student evaluation scores in those

courses. This approach ignores the importance of advisement, peer assessment,

contributions to curriculum enhancement, professional and technical

development, grantsmanship, and scholarly contributions to teaching and learning.

In short, we should expect faculty with teaching appointments to develop strong

teaching programs, just as we expect a programmatic approach to research and

extension efforts, and change our assessment metrics and policies to properly

evaluate programs, not just courses. The details of assessment may vary among

disciplines, but at the very least, the College should institute some form of peer

assessment of teaching based on long-standing guidelines and research in this area

(Johnson and Ryan, 2000).

viii. Broaden the outcomes for graduate students. Graduate education represents the

nexus between research and teaching, and consequently, much emphasis is placed

on developing a skill set leading to success as a principal investigator. Less

emphasis has been placed on developing teaching skills, despite evidence that

shows that graduate students who teach during their programs actually have

better research outcomes (Feldon et al. 2011). Even less emphasis is placed on

development of outreach and translation skills that would be useful for students

headed for careers in Extension. Graduate students need to be “T-shaped” (see goal

iii above) just as much as do undergraduates, hence we need to broaden our

graduate programs to include professional skills and also to provide meaningful

teaching and/or Extension experiences. Skill development can be easily assessed

during comprehensive exams and thesis defenses. Utilizing Extension and teaching

18

faculty/staff in graduate curricula and on committees would broaden the student

experience in ways beneficial to students and also to the reputation of the

departments from which they graduate.

ix. Greater involvement and collaboration across and outside of the College. As we build

relevant, innovative and interdisciplinary curricula and courses, we should

leverage all resources that can be brought to bear on teaching. This includes team

teaching within and across departments, the involvement of Extension

professionals and specialists in teaching, and leveraging our partner institutions

such as USDA, EPA, DNREC, DDA, and sister institutions. Even today, technology

allows guest teaching from colleagues around the world. Within the College,

Extension personnel are underutilized in formal teaching and can bring a wealth of

practical, up-to-the-minute knowledge to our students. Spreading our teaching FTE

across a greater number of people enhances the depth and diversity of our

teaching programs.

19

VI. RESEARCH AND DISCOVERY


The College has been traditionally strong in research relative to its size. For example, although CANR is

the 2nd smallest college at UD in faculty number, it ranks 3rd in grant proposal submissions and 3rd in total

research expenditures. We currently have six named chairs and three AAAS Fellows, thus ~10% of our research

faculty have achieved significant distinction in their fields, a testament to the quality of the overall faculty of the

College. We have achieved selective excellence in fields such as genetics and genomics, soil and water sciences,

conservation biology and natural resource economics, and our faculty are frequently invited to speak at national

and international conferences. Many of our current research strengths, resources and partnerships are

articulated above in section IV.

The College currently has about 40 FTE devoted to research, about half of the total number of faculty

FTE in the College. Total research expenditures for the past two fiscal years have averaged ~$16 million/year, or

about $400,000/year per FTE in research. Major sources of support are depicted in Figure 6.

Figure 6. FY2013 sources of sponsored research funding for CANR. Total grants and contracts were

approximately $16 million for FY2013.

The nature of research is becoming more collaborative and interdisciplinary, and will likely continue on

this track for the coming decades. There must be a balance between shorter term applied research, which is

important to remaining relevant to current stakeholders, and longer term fundamental research that lays the

groundwork for new products and services that cannot be envisioned at present. Each investigator will

experience increasing pressure to articulate the value of their research to society as those who fund our

programs, including the average taxpayer, scrutinize investments in university research more closely. The

expense of conducting research – whether applied or fundamental - will continue to escalate, as will the

competition for available funds, requiring a diversification of the funding portfolio depicted in Figure 6 (National

Research Council, 2012). Only the very best research ideas will attract funding in the future, underscoring the

need to build selective excellence in the research conducted in the College. Efficiencies can be captured as

investigators who work in teams can share equipment, space and human capital – we have an excellent example

State of Delaware

12% Industry3%

Other Federal Govt 11%

NSF17%

USDA54%

Other3%

20

of this approach in the Delaware Biotechnology Institute and should seek to replicate this model. Overall, the

future of our research depends on being more selective in scope, more collaborative and interdisciplinary in

nature, more relevant to stakeholders, and more competitive for limited funding.

b) Unique research strengths of the College

After considerable reflection and planning, we have defined our research strengths based not only on what

we do today, but what we endeavor to do in the future. The areas of selective excellence that we will maintain or

build are:

i. Genetics & genomics for plant, animal, and ecosystem improvement. The College

has considerable expertise in genetics, genomics, and molecular biology, and

several faculty in this area have achieved international renown for their research.

The future of agriculture and natural resources depends on continued research

investment in this field as solutions to many of the world’s grand challenges will

involve genetics and allied disciplines.

ii. Sustainable food systems, landscapes and ecosystems. Sustaining our food system

is foundational to our College’s mission and requires an interdisciplinary approach,

involving almost all of our faculty as well as those from outside of the College. To be

sustainable, agriculture must be 1) profitable for the producer; 2) affordable, safe

and nutritious for the consumer; and 3) respectful of the environment. Without

any one of the three, the system fails. Beyond food, our research has, and will

continue to focus on sustainable landscape design and management, and

sustaining the world’s ecosystems by conserving natural resources and enhancing

biodiversity and resiliency. The Delmarva region provides an excellent setting in

which to study sustainability since it is a relatively populous, environmentally

sensitive region of the country.

iii. “One Health” initiative – animals, plants, humans, ecosystems. Traditionally, the

health of the earth’s inhabitants has been studied and practiced in relative

isolation; animal health by veterinarians and animal scientists, plant health by

plant pathologists and physiologists, human health by medical scientists, and

ecosystem health by ecologists. In recent years, science is beginning to uncover the

interconnections among various organisms and between organisms and their

environments. For decades, our College has been strong in animal and plant health

research, and more recently we have developed strength in ecosystem health. We

are beginning to address human health through our work in food science, nutrition

and safety, and we’re reaching out to the College of Health Sciences and other

partners on these topics. It stands to reason that fundamental knowledge of health

in one set of organisms might be applied to other organisms. Our College will

endeavor to expand the frontiers of the health of plants and animals and find new

links to humans and ecosystems through partnerships.

iv. Climate change – impacts, mitigation and adaptation. One of the greatest

challenges facing agriculture and the environment is climate change. Even without

further warming, enhanced variability in climate can reduce the sustainability of

food production and ecosystem function. Our research increasingly contains

themes of climate change and variability, but the future will require us to be more

intentional with research in mitigation and adaptation solutions for our

stakeholders.

21

v. Human dimensions of food, agriculture and natural resources. Some would say that

if we just applied what we knew already, we could solve many of the grand

challenges in agriculture and natural resources. While our science has produced

several possible solutions for enhanced food production and natural resource

conservation, changing behavior in people is quite often the barrier to

implementation and ultimately, positive change. Some solutions are simply viewed

as uneconomical, misaligned with current government policy and regulation, or too

risky to be implemented. We must focus on the human dimensions of our problems

or we will be less impactful and relevant to the public we serve. One of our

departments – Applied Economics and Statistics – is invaluable in this respect,

bringing expertise to our remaining departments on the human dimensions of

problems we need to solve.

c) Goals

i. Achieve excellence in areas of unique strength. Fundamentally, world class programs

are built on quality human capital. We must recruit and retain the best – and most

diverse - faculty and staff available, and continuously ask ourselves if we’re hiring

the best person or simply the best person in the applicant pool. We must be more

aggressive and intentional about hiring and be aware that every job announcement

that we release speaks volumes about who we are and where we’re going.

Presented with the choice, we must opt for fewer, high quality hires rather than a

larger number of average hires if we are to achieve selective excellence in any given

field. While the number of research FTEs will likely remain the same or decrease

slightly, the prominence of our faculty, their programs, and our College will

increase, as will its diversity. Quality can and should be measured by regular

benchmarking of faculty output, impact, and recognition against our aspirational

peer institutions. Diversifying faculty ranks will be challenging as it has been

previously, and we will need to market our positions in appropriate outlets to

ensure a diverse applicant pool in every search.

ii. Support research with excellent facilities and core support units. Attracting and

retaining the best faculty and staff requires that we compete with other excellent

institutions for top candidates. The support that candidates receive in terms of

startup packages, work environment, and help from support units will play a major

role in choice of institution, so we must invest in physical facilities and support

personnel to achieve excellence. More detail on physical facilities is provided below

in section VIII, and individual support unit plans were crafted in response to the

needs and goals of programmatic units of the College (Section X.b). While the

College and the departments shoulder the responsibility for making good hires and

getting them started, in turn, each researcher must build and maintain a

sustainable funding stream that contributes not only to their research output, but

to the College’s research support infrastructure.

iii. Promote interdisciplinary approaches to research and collaborate with partners

outside the College. The world’s grand challenges require solutions that derive from

teams of researchers working across disciplinary boundaries. As listed above in

Section IV.a, we enjoy a richness of partnerships with public and private entities

that, when leveraged, result in greater impact for our stakeholders than we alone

can produce. As an example, in September 2013, we partnered with universities in

the region to hold the first Delmarva Land Grant Summit in Dover. Six Land Grant

22

colleges of agriculture and related sciences came together to focus on issues of

importance to the Delmarva region, and pledged to develop seed grant funding to

support collaborative research (to be launched in 2014). Seed grant funding

illustrates our commitment to working together and is designed to lead to larger,

collaborative awards in future years.

23

VII. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION


All colleges at UD engage with the community in select areas and thus align themselves with one of the

University’s strategic milestones, “The Engaged University” (The Path to Prominence, University of Delaware,

2008). However, CANR differs from other colleges in that it is deliberately structured for engagement with the

public through Cooperative Extension, and its outreach mission is thus substantially larger, more impactful, and

more central to our identity. Cooperative Extension celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2014 and as we celebrate

the accomplishments of the last century, we must look ahead to the next century and change accordingly to

maintain our impact and relevance to society.

UD Cooperative Extension follows a more-or-less traditional model in that it is a federal-state-county

partnership (though the county funding levels are low compared to other states) and most of the personnel are

“county agents,” termed “professionals” in Delaware. Programs are focused into three main areas of Agriculture

and Natural Resources, 4-H Youth Development and Family and Consumer Sciences. Importantly, we partner

with the state’s other land grant university, Delaware State University, to deliver science-based information to

the public. We also have strong ties to other mid-Atlantic and northeastern universities on matters of regional

importance, and Extension is generally more engaged across state lines than are the research and teaching

missions.

The College employs a total of 59 FTE in Cooperative Extension, 22 as professionals located largely in

county offices, 27 as specialists integrated into the four departments or one of the county offices, and 10 FTE in

support. Currently, there are 23.9 professional FTE’s in Agriculture & Natural Resources, 15.2 professional FTE’s

in 4-H Youth Development, and 4.9 professional FTE’s in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) (Figure 7).

Additionally, there are seven paraprofessionals in Family and Consumer Sciences providing nutrition education

through federal grant programs such as Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), and

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program )SNAP-Ed.). The 4-H program is the most strongly leveraged on

grant funds, though significant percentages of funding of the two other programs are sourced from grants.

Figure 7. Cooperative Extension: FTE by program type and funding source

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Agriculture & NaturalResources

4-H YouthDevelopment

Family & ConsumerSciences

Support Staff

Grants

State/Fed/RBB

53%

15%

18%

30%

18%

24

We envision UD Cooperative Extension being recognized across the state and nation as a premier broker

of unbiased, research-based, evidence-informed information. Extension professionals have been, and will

continue to be, recognized as the “go to” source for outreach at the University of Delaware. In fact, we believe

that all colleges at UD can utilize and contribute to the Extension network, and that it can serve as a model and

mentor for enhanced engagement efforts at UD.

We also envision even greater collaboration across county lines, with Delaware State and other regional

institutions, as well as with Delaware Sea Grant, and USDA, EPA and other federal entities. To achieve this vision

change will be required on several levels. We have redefined our unique strengths and goals accordingly.

b). Extension Unique Strengths, or Plan of Work

Upon considerable reflection and advice from stakeholders, the following Plan of Work has been

developed to take UD Cooperative Extension into its second century. Our programs and

activities focus the majority of our resources in these primary areas.

i. Profitable and competitive agriculture. Extension has and will continue to be strong

in applied research and translation around best management practices. Producing

food for an increasing population, while minimizing the footprint of agriculture,

requires the implementation of science-based, best management practices.

ii. Protect and enhance the environment and conserve natural resources. Climate

variability and change will require mitigation and adaptation strategies for

agriculturists and natural resource managers. Examples include irrigation

management, disaster preparedness, enhancing soil and water quality, reducing

off-site transport of nitrogen and phosphorous, pesticide education, planned

landscapes, precision agriculture, energy efficiency, conservation practices, and

integrated pest management.

iii. Farm, small business and family resource management. Across all audiences there is

an increasing need for financial literacy, from the newly minted college graduate to

the largest agricultural enterprises. Topics extended through this program include

budgeting, credit, debt and risk management, recordkeeping, cash flow, estate

planning, insurance literacy, business management, as well as marketing and

human resource management. Our strength in applied economics must be

extended to the public to have positive impacts on society and the regional

economy.

iv. Food safety and security, nutrition and health. The overall goal of these programs is

to increase the number of Delawareans who are healthy at every stage of life. This

requires a socio-ecological approach that encompasses healthy and safe food choices

and healthy and safe environments. Specific programs include topics of human

nutrition, diet, health literacy, prevention education and an integration of health

with the environment and agriculture systems. This also aligns with the 4-H national

mission as “health” is one of the four H’s in 4-H. Food-borne illness extracts a

considerable toll on the economy and health of individuals, and as agriculture

diversifies and becomes more complex, safe food handling practices for producers,

processors, and consumers will require Extension support. The increasing number

of urban farms and gardens, local food entrepreneurs and value-added foods that

are being created will require a considerable education effort to ensure food safety

and foster this sector of the agricultural economy.

25

v. Youth STEM education, volunteer and leadership development. Nationally, 4-H has

established a bold goal of engaging one million new young people in science

programs by 2013. This can be viewed as an early intervention in creating the

pipeline of students who will study STEM disciplines at the University of Delaware

and other US institutions. Delaware youth participation in 4-H is the highest in the

country on a percentage basis; projects and events include animal husbandry and

veterinary medicine, the environment, agriculture, plants, engineering, robotics and

technology. Judging contests in science include dairy, equine, horticulture, livestock,

poultry, wildlife habitat, and wood science. Recent results from a Tuft’s University

study of the long-term outcomes of 4-H participation show that 4-H youth were 1) 2.1

times more likely to be engaged with their communities, 2) 1.7 times more likely to be

engaged in school and 1.5 times more likely to report high academic competence,

3) 1.6 times more likely to report healthy habits and 2.4 times as likely to delay

sexual intercourse, and 4) 1.6 times as likely to participate in STEM programs in

Grade 11 of high school, compared to non 4-H youth (Lerner et al. 2011). This

underscores the need to continue 4-H Extension programming for Delaware’s

future.

vi. Beyond youth development, Cooperative Extension also engages in personal

leadership development for individuals and the training of volunteers for

Extension program delivery. Currently, there are over 3,000 volunteers in Delaware

Cooperative Extension, including Master Gardeners, Master Food educators and 4-H

leaders. A continued focus on personal leadership development for youth and

adults provides peer-to-peer education, which is a highly effective tool for

addressing behavior change

c) Goals

i. Statewide focus and structure. Across the nation, Extension has been traditionally county-

based, but more recently states have adopted regional and statewide delivery models. Since

Delaware is relatively small and homogenous, most outreach needs are not county-specific,

and switching to a statewide model presents greater efficiency and effectiveness of limited

resources. We expect to market and deliver 80% of our current county-based programs

statewide by 2018.

ii. Create and implement a sustainable funding model. Federal capacity funds have been

vital to Cooperative Extension nationwide, but levels of funding have not increased at

the same rates as costs. The same is true for state funding. Competitive funding is

available to Extension personnel, but like capacity funds, the future is uncertain. A

more diversified portfolio of funding sources with less reliance on federal capacity

funds is achievable and will be pursued (Figure 8). Three major new sources include

tuition, cost recovery and gifts. Growth in these areas should reduce dependence on

federal capacity and RBB funds in Extension.

26

Fi

Figure 8. Current sources of revenue for Cooperative Extension (FY12) and projected future

sources/distributions to the year 2020.

iii. Stress programmatic impact through evaluation and enhance scholarship. If relevant,

science-based information is extended well, we should be able to measure positive change

in agriculture, environment, and society as the result of our efforts. Impact evaluation is

necessary to secure funding in a competitive environment and enhances the scholarly work

of the organization. We will shift our focus in evaluation from activities to impact for a

minimum of one statewide program each year.

iv. Integration of Cooperative Extension across UD colleges and within CANR departments.

Integration of faculty in colleges outside of CANR with Cooperative Extension represents an

outstanding opportunity to enhance outreach at UD. This goal is timely as UD is seeking the

Carnegie “Engaged University” classification during FY14. The best opportunities appear to

be in the Colleges of Education and Human Development, Health Sciences, and Earth, Ocean

and Environment, as well as the School of Public Policy and Administration in Arts and

Sciences. Within the College, we envision a greater integration of Extension personnel

within departments, and that the scholarship of outreach and engagement would be

considered on the same level as the scholarship of research and teaching.

v. Enhance program leadership. Current program leaders have split roles in educational

programming and in program leadership. We must strengthen the program leader role to

include responsibilities including leadership for grants and contracts, partner and agency

linkages and cross-college integration. The goal is to move from part-time to full-time

program leadership with the above responsibilities incorporated. By 2016, we will increase

program leadership by 1 FTE (primarily through ag and natural resources and 4-H youth

development). By 2020, we will increase programmatic leadership by one additional FTE.

vi. Utilize technology in educational delivery. A growing proportion of our stakeholders desire

access to information 24/7 and wish to receive programming in an entirely digital or hybrid

learning format (part online, part live). To accomplish this goal, we will optimize Ask an

Expert (a nationwide Extension initiative to link clients to experts digitally), enhance web

presence including You Tube, conduct online certificate courses and workshops, and

market to new audiences through social media. We will strive to achieve 100% of educators

providing at least one educational program by distance technology by 2020.

10%

20%

2%5%48%

7.5%7.5%

2020 Funding Sources

Fed

Stat

Local

CostRecover

Grant

Gifts

Tuition

24%

20%

1%

15%

40%

2012 Funding Sources

Federal $1,933,228

State $1,574,625

Local $114,594

RBB $1,203,125

Grants $3,164,072

Federa

Stat

Local

RBB

Grant

27

vii. Develop a strategy for meeting the population needs in Wilmington. As a major population

center for the state, a comprehensive review of Extension educational program priorities as

they align with the needs of Wilmington will be explored. There is also a need to assess

other University and partner resources that are available for this targeted population and

develop a University strategy for an educational presence in Wilmington that is cohesive

and impactful. An Extension strategy for meaningful engagement in Wilmington will be

developed with a needs assessment completed in 2014. Programmatic and staffing

recommendations will be completed for 2015 with the goal of an overall 10% increase in

programs targeted to the Wilmington area by 2018.

28

VII. PHYSICAL SPACE


The college currently occupies over 360,000 gross square feet of built space spread across the three

counties as shown in Figure 9. The vast majority of the square footage resides on the main campus in Newark,

and a breakdown of the Newark campus by function is provided in Figure 10. In addition to physical space, the

College operates two 350-acre farms, one on the Newark campus and the Thurman Adams farm in Georgetown.

Figure 9. Gross square feet of all physical facilities

statewide in CANR.

Figure 10. Breakdown of space on the Newark

campus by function, CANR.

It is interesting to note in Figure 10 that we have more square footage devoted to animals than faculty and staff

(“office”) and students (“classroom”) combined, reflective of the size and scope of our farms. This highlights the

distinct nature of CANR relative to other colleges at UD, and illustrates one reason why our cost of delivery of

research, teaching and Extension programs is higher than most other campus units. Importantly, much of the

29

space on our farms is not maintained by the central facilities unit on campus, so our College bears much higher

operating and maintenance costs than others, and must have its own contingency plan in the event of a disaster.

Figure 11. Actual square footage, by building, on the Newark campus (left) compared to the amount of

space in the same buildings that is maintained by central campus facilities (right). Just about half of the

Newark campus building space is maintained solely by the College.

Most buildings in the College are in acceptable condition, although like all Land Grant Universities, we

have our share of deferred maintenance issues (Kadamus, 2013). In Georgetown, The Carvel Center is the newest

building (completed in 2005) and represents the best quality workspace in the entire College. The Lasher Lab,

where poultry disease diagnostics are performed at the Carvel Center campus, has exceeded its useful life, but

thanks to a ~$3 million grant from the state, it will be completely renovated during 2014-15. The old

“Substation” building on the south side of County Seat Highway in Georgetown has not been heavily used since

the Carvel Center was competed, but could be better utilized if renovated. In Newark, Townsend Hall was built in

the 1950s, but recently renovated and is in fairly good condition overall. The CC Allen lab, a relatively new

biosafety level-3 facility, must undergo constant maintenance to remain cleared for select agent research and is

in excellent condition. Numerous buildings on the Newark Farm range from excellent condition (dairy) to

condemned (old farm home). The Fischer Greenhouses are in very good condition and are in no immediate need

of expansion, as relatively little of our research and teaching is conducted there.

There is a strong consensus that Worrilow Hall, which houses the majority of research laboratory space

and several teaching labs, has exceeded its useful life and hinders the progress of the College more than any

other facility. Fundamental problems exist with air quality, temperature control, water quality, lighting, flooring,

fire suppression, emergency backup power, and casework and cabinetry in most of the research labs. The

teaching labs remain in acceptable condition, but are not constructed to universal accessibility standards,

30

limiting the full participation of some students. A complete renovation is estimated to exceed $20 million, much

of which will have to come from private fundraising according to current policies.

Although second in importance behind human capital, space is nonetheless critical to the future success

of the College. The quality of the work space is directly associated with the quality of research, teaching and

Extension work that is accomplished, and absolutely critical for attracting (and retaining) top notch faculty, staff

and students to the College. This must improve in the case of Worrilow Hall in the near term.

It is difficult to anticipate future space needs, but current trends in construction (i.e., the ISE lab,

completed in 2013) seem to favor more open-concept, flexible spaces that can accommodate a variety of uses

and investigators. We would consider ourselves fortunate to experience one major renovation or the

construction of one new building during the 25 year timeline considered in this document. Given this

infrequency of renewal and the uncertainty of needs in the future, we must plan new spaces to be as flexible and

multi-functional as possible.

b) Goals

i. Replace or completely renovate Worrilow Hall. In the 25 year timeline considered in this

document, renovation of Worrilow Hall must come soon, ideally in the next five years.

Toward the end of the 25 year period, we must prepare for renovations of Townsend, CC

Allen, farm buildings and the Carvel Center as these facilities will have exceeded 30 years

since being constructed or last renovated. It is likely that a new building will be needed

within 25 years that will house research labs, particularly if Worrilow Hall renovations are

partial or temporary. An architectural firm has been secured as of October 2013 to develop

a plan for Worrilow’s renovation, which will address safety and functional issues, and

provide designs for more flexible, shared lab spaces and common spaces for maximal

efficiency and effectiveness.

ii. Outdoor spaces. We must develop a plan for the Newark Farm and areas adjacent to our

buildings, including the University of Delaware Botanic Gardens and ecological wetlands

and woodlands, to preserve these resources for future generations of faculty, staff and

students. The farm is valuable to all mission areas of the College, and extremely important

to attracting prospective students and faculty. This plan must align with the University’s

Master Plan, which is also being developed during 2013-2014. Similarly, The Thurman

Adams, Jr Research farm in Georgetown must have a long-range plan since most of its

arable land is currently being utilized.

iii. Classrooms. The quantity of space available for teaching is more than adequate for our

enrollment at present. Data obtained from the UD registrar shows that none of our

classrooms or teaching laboratories are utilized more than 50% of the available periods

during the day, and seat utilization is 54% or less in all but one of our teaching spaces.

However, with one exception, all classrooms were designed for lecture, with fixed seating

facing a lectern. To facilitate new approaches to teaching and learning, we will need

attractive, flexible, technology-capable classrooms that are more conducive to conferring

desired learning outcomes. With innovations such as blended and online learning, along

with availability of classrooms on the central part of campus, we may need even less space

devoted to classrooms in the future. Clearly, our focus should be on improving the quality of

classroom space, not the quantity, and in the near term we should endeavor to pilot a new

classroom concept by renovating an existing classroom. Ideas can be gleaned from designs

used in the ISE Lab and in Gore Hall.

iv. Attractive, welcoming, functional common spaces. The College is fortunate to have the

Townsend Commons: a large, open, flexible use space that students and others find

31

attractive. Due to current parking and bus route configurations, most people enter the back

of Townsend Hall through the Commons. As long as this is the case, we should be mindful

that the first impression of the College occurs in the Townsend Commons, and develop a

plan to make the space even more inviting and functional. One possibility is to develop it

along the lines of the University of Pennsylvania Weigle Information Commons

(http://wic.library.upenn.edu/newtowic.html). Entering Townsend primarily through its

back doors may change as the STAR campus is developed, since the UD Master Plan calls for

opening the view of Townsend Hall to College Ave and STAR

(http://www.udel.edu/star/downloads/Master_Plan_Vol1_11-02-11.pdf). Townsend lobby

and Commons are contiguous spaces, so the plan should include changes to both spaces to

make visitors feel welcomed, informed and comfortable.

v. Create a fair, transparent space allocation system. In early 2013, the CANR Space Committee

was created to provide a College-wide, shared governance mechanism for space allocation.

The committee is advisory to the dean, and includes representation from all five

programmatic units. They vet all requests for significant changes in space allocation. Space

vacated through retirements or discontinuation of programs returns to the College pool for

reallocation. Top priority for space allocation will be reserved for new hires, and new hires

will not be made unless there is adequate space available to foster success.

http://wic.library.upenn.edu/newtowic.html

http://www.udel.edu/star/downloads/Master_Plan_Vol1_11-02-11.pdf

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IX. BUDGETARY PRINCIPLES FOR ACCOMPLISHING THE MISSION, IMPLEMENTING THE VISION

a) Revenue and expenditures: Current status and likely future

At the time of writing the Master Plan, the University of Delaware is in the fourth year of transition from

a block or historical budget model to one based on Responsibility Center Management (RCM), termed

Responsibility Based Budgeting (RBB) at UD. In RBB, revenues generated through tuition dollars, state

appropriations, and other sources are aggregated centrally, and then distributed to colleges after withholding

funds for certain priorities of the central administration (e.g., new facilities, subvention, athletics). The seven

colleges at UD then receive a share of the remaining revenue based on the amount of teaching and sponsored

research that they contribute to the overall University totals. The colleges are “taxed” for central services such as

the admissions office, registrar, physical plant, library, etc., according to defined algorithms, and must operate on

the net amount of revenue after taxes. This decentralized approach to university budgeting began at the

University of Pennsylvania in the 1970s and has spread to a number of institutions nationwide. It presents

opportunities and challenges, which will be outlined in the next section.

Today, the CANR budget is approximately $67 million dollars per year. Fiscal year 2012 (FY12) was the

last full year of budget data available prior to development of the Master Plan. Total revenues and expenditures

for FY12 are presented in Figures 12 and 13, respectively.

Figure 12. Revenue, by category, FY12 (ending June 2012). “Supplemental/Discretionary” should be

labeled “Carryforward” to better reflect it as a source from previous years.

While the future of funding in any of the categories in Figure 12 is uncertain, we can hypothesize which are likely

to grow, and which are likely to shrink based on long-term trends.

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Figure 13. Expenses, by category, FY12 (ending June 2012). Total expenditures matched revenues at ~$67

million.

RBB Block: The RBB Block is derived from the overall RBB pool at UD, and constitutes the largest single source of

income to the College. The revenues available to distribute to colleges from RBB are comprised largely of tuition

dollars and state appropriations, with minor amounts from endowments and other sources. While the overall

RBB pool has been increasing in recent years, the ability to grow this by increasing tuition, which contributes

~¾ of the funds, is limited since tuition increases are unpopular with students/parents and UD has increased its

tuition greatly in recent years. The 17% that the state contributes to the overall RBB pool is also not likely to

increase; in fact, budget planning for FY14-17 includes a 2% reduction/yr assumption. Financial aid, which

comes off the top of the overall RBB pool, has been increasing rapidly in recent years and is now the largest off-

the-top expense taken before revenues are allocated to colleges. While the overall RBB pool may not increase, the

amount allocated to CANR could increase if we increase credit hour production, the number of students in our

majors, our research expenditures, or all of the above. As mentioned in the section on teaching and curriculum,

our goal is to increase the number of graduates to meet some of the industry demand in agriculture and natural

resources and also to educate non-majors on agricultural and natural resource issues through service courses. If

we grow enrollment, the revenue from the RBB block should increase in a transparent and fairly predictable

manner.

Grants. Grant revenue from all sources – state, federal, industry, and other – has been increasing in recent years

and likely will increase into the future. Faculty and staff have done an excellent job in garnering funds from a

variety of sources, and each new hire is evaluated for the ability to attract sustainable levels of external funding.

Even as cuts in federal competitive grant funding may occur, the proportion of the CANR budget attributable to

grants should increase into the future by a few percent per year through increased focus on industry and

philanthropy as funding sources (National Research Council, 2012).

Federal Appropriations. Over $3.3 million per year is awarded to CANR in federal capacity funds, predominantly

Hatch funds to support the Delaware Experiment Station and Smith-Lever funds to support Extension. Small

amounts of McIntire-Stennis and Animal Health funds are also received. In FY13, sequestration reduced these

appropriations by about 7.6%, or $250,000, and the Continuing Resolution passed in October 2013 by Congress

embeds another round of sequestration and similar cuts for FY14. Given the great uncertainty in federal funding

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across a number of programs in the future, we presume that federal capacity funds will decrease with time,

probably by amounts similar to sequestration-triggered levels every few years. This is less of an issue with

research funding as there are other sources of revenue available, but presents a major issue for the sustainability

of Extension. More has been said on this topic in the Extension section, and a major goal for Extension is to

reduce the dependency on federal capacity funds.

State Line. The state of Delaware provides a 1:1 match for the federal capacity funds the College receives, and,

thankfully, it goes beyond this annually and funds other items of importance to the state such as poultry disease

research and surveillance, biotechnology, and the Carvel Center. As of July 2013, the state has restored the 15%

cut that CANR experienced in 2011, so the total revenue from the state is currently $5.2 million/yr. At the

University level, we use a 2% reduction annually to forecast the state’s contribution, and although the current

year brought good news to the College, it is wise to assume a 2% annual reduction as we plan future College

budgets. Funding required to sustain Medicaid, K-12 education and other state programs has increased and will

likely continue to reduce the capacity of the state to fund higher education (Rich, 2013).

Gifts and endowments. Our alumni and friends have been generous to the College in the past and, although

highly variable from year-to-year, gift and endowment income is increasing. Currently gifts and endowments

represent about 3% of our budget, a reasonable long-term goal would be to realize about 5% of the overall

budget in gifts and endowment revenue.

Self-supporting units. Our soil, plant and animal diagnostic labs, the DNA sequencing center and the UD

Creamery currently operate near cost-neutrality. As self-supporting units, they must do so, and their budgets will

be monitored annually to ensure cost neutrality. The UD Creamery has been quite successful, and the potential

exists for a small amount of its revenue above costs to be used to support the dairy at the Newark Farm.

Surpluses from other self-supporting units are unlikely, but would be returned to support the research mission if

available. The College should evaluate the potential for new, entrepreneurial self-supporting units with the goal

of providing services that generate net revenue back to the College.

Supplemental/discretionary. These funds are derived largely from Indirect Cost recovery on grants (IDC) and are

carried forward from year to year in anticipation of significant expenses such as space renovation and startup

costs. Currently, the term is a misnomer as all of the funds in this category must be applied to resolve the

College’s structural deficit of over $1 million/yr and provide startup funding for new hires. The goal is to resolve

the structural deficit and apply much of the funds in this category to deferred maintenance issues throughout the

College and special initiatives such as seed grants.

Compensation. About half of all CANR expenditures are for salary and benefits for its 250+ personnel. Salary

raises are set in a collective bargaining process at UD. Even through the great recession, UD faculty and staff

received raises, thus we anticipate that salaries will increase by 1-4% annually into the future. Health care and

other benefits are also increasing precipitously, and we project a 6% annual increase in health care benefits

alone. Much of any increased revenue to the College will inevitably be used to fund increased compensation. As

retirements occur, we will recoup dollars in salary savings, which can then be used to cover increased salaries

and benefits for existing employees. Without new sources of income, the size of the College, in terms of number

of personnel, will decrease over the long term.

RBB Taxes. About ¼ of our expenditures go to support central services at UD. Since much of the budget in any

given support unit is in compensation, we expect that RBB taxes will increase into the future, though currently,

energy efficiency upgrades and other cost-cutting measures have slowed the rate of increase in UD support unit

budgets.

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Supplies, capital equipment. Supplies and new equipment expenditures total just over 10% of expenditures,

much of which are incorporated into grants. Any increases to this category would likely be offset by increased

grant revenue.

O&M. CANR experiences extensive operations and maintenance costs due to our two 350-acre farms and other

facilities that we maintain ourselves; i.e., the operation and maintenance of significant resources assigned to the

College are above and beyond what RBB taxes cover. Expenditures in this category may rise faster than any other

category, as the College currently has extensive deferred maintenance issues in Worrilow Hall and on farms.

Grad Student Tuition. Almost all of our graduate students receive a waiver of tuition, termed a “tuition

scholarship.” To be competitive for the best students, we must not only waive tuition but also provide a stipend

to our students. Taken together, the cost to the College is currently $45,000-50,000/year per student. In RBB,

CANR receives credit for all tuition billed to students, then is charged the amount of tuition waived. This expense

not only increases as our graduate numbers grow, but also increases each time tuition is raised at UD. As of 2013,

we are near cost-neutrality on the total graduate student enterprise, as a small percentage of self-paying

students basically subsidize the allocated costs of the students provided with stipends and waivers. Thus, we

must grow the proportion of self-paying students in our graduate programs to remain cost-neutral into the

future, and/or charge tuition to grants.

IDC. The University returns 96% of indirect costs from grants (IDC) to the College, and currently 28% is

distributed to the units; this 28% pass through is shown as an expense in Figure 13. The IDC returned to

departments is the primary source of supplemental funding for chairs to use on items such as start-up costs for

new hires, lab renovations, etc. This category will increase modestly in the future as grant funding increases.

Travel. Most travel expenses are charged to grants and supplemental accounts, and although this may increase in

the future, revenue streams will increase accordingly to support travel needs of faculty, Extension professionals

and administration.

b) Opportunities and challenges of RBB, implications for the CANR budget

i. Mission first, budget second. The RBB model tends to create competition among

colleges for what appears to be a finite pool of resources; some would argue that

this is healthy competition, while others argue that it creates unwarranted tension

among colleges that should be working together. An extreme example of bad RBB

behavior would be teaching, say “English for Agriculture majors,” when it really is

not within our mission to do so, yet it would yield significant revenue to the

College. We must not let the budget drive the mission of the College or the University.

Having said that, resources are finite and therefore we need to set priorities, fund

the top priorities first, and look to partners to conduct or collaborate on lower

priority programs.

ii. Every program does not have to pay for itself. RBB requires each college to live

within its budget and make responsible choices about programs it can support.

However, it does not require each department, program or activity to be revenue

neutral. Subvention is the term used in RBB for subsidizing colleges that don’t

generate enough RBB revenue to support themselves. Subvention is necessary to

account for the differential cost of program delivery among different colleges.

CANR is currently on the receiving end of subvention, as enrollment in our majors

and courses is insufficient to meet the high cost of delivering our field and

laboratory oriented programs. Just as other colleges subvent CANR, on a smaller

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scale some programs within the College subvent others. An example would be the

revenue from high enrollment majors and courses being used to subvent one of

several low-enrollment majors whose graduates are important to society and

should be maintained. In sum, RBB allows us to do a limited amount of pro bono

work in the College as long as the work is high priority and we identify a source of

subsidy.

iii. RBB aligns well with CANR, but there are vulnerabilities. The implementation of RBB

at UD is unique in that 25% of the revenues available for distribution to colleges

are allocated based on sponsored research, and 75% are allocated based on

teaching workload. Implementations of RBB at most other universities do not

include this “research incentive.” As CANR is a strong research College, ranking

third in research expenditures among seven colleges, we benefit from this

allocation model. If the RBB model would change in such a way as to reduce the

research incentive (and/or subvention), the College would be vulnerable to a

relatively large budget cut. This underscores the need for broadening the portfolio

of revenue streams to the College in the event of such changes in RBB. Reductions

in the research incentive and in subvention have been discussed by the provost, the

deans and the Faculty Senate during FY13, i.e., our vulnerabilities are real, not just

perceived.

c) Goals

i. Maximize transparency & predictability. The College’s budget allocations to various

units should be transparent. One of the advantages of UD’s RBB budget model is

transparency across colleges, so the same principle should be extended across

units within the College. An annual report will be published with unit-level detail

and made available to all beginning in FY14. Unfortunately, the RBB model will

never allow for a completely accurate prediction of a future budget as there are too

many uncertainties in model inputs. An example is the ratio of in-state to out-of-

state students; the students pay very different amounts of tuition, but we do not

know this ratio with sufficient certainty in any given year until the incoming class

is finalized, close to the time budgets are allocated. Despite this challenge, the

College can provide tools for units to run “what if” scenarios and continually

update estimates of inputs to assist in budget planning.

ii. Minimize vulnerability to cuts by diversifying the portfolio and targeting revenue

streams for growth. Referring back to Figure 12, new revenue sources including,

but not limited to, royalties from intellectual property, revenues from fee-based

programs, and online learning could compensate for expected cuts in federal

capacity funds, state funds, and certain grant programs. The College must endeavor

to secure and grow such new sources of revenue to sustain itself and have the

opportunity to undertake new programs and ventures. In addition, the College

should seek to grow existing revenue streams, particularly the RBB block through

greater teaching activity, gifts/endowments through greater development work,

and competitive grant funds through building unique strengths in areas of selective

excellence.

iii. Reduce long-term costs by enhanced efficiency. We value efficiency and return on

investment, and therefore should seek to reduce costs by all means possible

without sacrificing the quality of service we provide. Examples include, but are not

limited to, reduced utility expense through energy upgrades, optimizing space

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utilization through renovation and elimination of unneeded items, and seeking

arrangements to share or outsource costly functions.

iv. Create a surplus for unforeseen circumstances and reinvestment. The College should

endeavor to set aside 1-2% of its annual budget for unforeseen circumstances each

year, reinvesting these funds in mission-critical areas at the year’s end if such

circumstances do not arise.

v. Continually reinvest in facilities and avoid deferred maintenance. We must keep our

physical resources in optimal condition to attract and retain the best faculty and

staff, and to optimize the efficiency of our work. Significant deferred maintenance

issues are apparent on many campuses nationwide (Kadamus, 2013), and our

College is no exception. Small, periodic expenditures on maintenance are

preferable to infrequent, large expenditures to keep facilities in optimal condition.

At least 50% of any budget surplus should be dedicated to facilities upgrades and

maintenance annually for the foreseeable future.

vi. Centralize salaries and space, create clear priorities for allocation. As the University

switched from block to RBB budgeting, the concept of “faculty lines” or “staff lines”

disappeared. Under RBB, there are no lines per se, only dollars available for

investment in various resources, human or physical. Faculty, professionals and staff

require space in which to work, thus if salaries are centralized, space should be

centralized as well. It makes little sense to allocate dollars to a unit for a

faculty/staff hire without also allocating space to support the hire. Therefore, in

FY13 salary and space were centralized, and in the future will be allocated together

according to College-level priorities, not simply historical levels of allocation. With

each new hire or investment in physical space, the following questions will be

asked in order to prioritize allocations to units:

1. Is the position vital to building or maintaining selective excellence in an

area of unique strength?

2. What type and how much space are required to ensure success of the new

position without compromising the success of others?

3. Will the position/space allocation generate revenue (directly or indirectly)

for the College? If not, how will the allocation be subsidized?

vii. Achieve greater cost recovery from grants, contracts, fees and gifts. The College has

not been recovering the full cost of certain activities it performs. This is

particularly true for certain research and extension programs, but also for teaching

some cost-intensive courses. Not recovering the full cost of programs has clear

benefits to individuals – IDC rates below negotiated levels, receiving services free

of charge or at discount, providing services to stakeholders at no cost. However, the

benefits are outweighed by the opportunity costs associated with subsidizing these

activities at the College level. Deferred maintenance and upgrades of facilities and

equipment are perhaps the best examples of opportunities missed due to funds

being diverted to cover the full cost of program delivery. Moving forward, we must

increase the percentage of cost recovery sought for projects and/or prioritize

certain programs for subsidy. This will allow us to achieve goals ii and iv more

easily. In 2013, the College developed a Cost Recovery Committee to advise the

dean’s office on new strategies and policies for achieving financial sustainability.

This shared governance mechanism will examine cost recovery strategies for

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teaching, research and Extension programs, and also look at opportunities for

additional revenue generation such as new products from the Creamery or new

services from our diagnostic labs.

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X. DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL AND FOOD SCIENCES

Introduction and Overview

The Department of Animal and Food Sciences (ANFS) integrates research, teaching and outreach in the

disciplines of food and animal sciences. The department’s undergraduate students receive a multidiscipline-

based experience that combines hands-on and virtual learning environments to provide a solid science

background. The undergraduate curriculum prepares students for a variety of options upon graduation

including veterinary school and other graduate programs, research, and immediate job opportunities. In

addition to the undergraduate experience, the Department’s graduate program has expanded and is sought after

by students pursuing further studies in food and animal science. The student population is diverse, recognizes

the importance of life-long learning, has obtained critical thinking skills, and is passionate about the integration

of food and animal sciences. The students are supported by a faculty that is recognized globally for their

commitment to excellence in the integration of animal and food sciences, developing innovative solutions, and to

collaboration across disciplines and University settings. The faculty is diverse, collaborative, and embraces a

systems approach to research and learning. The students and faculty have access to stat-of-the-art lab space and

discovery learning opportunities. Our goal is that other universities and industry acknowledge the Department

as a center of excellence in animal and food sciences. We will measure this goal through federal and industry

grants, collaborations, undergraduate and graduate student enrollment, as well as through the careers and

graduate programs that our students attend post-graduation.

For future planning, the dean should consider determining a target for undergraduate and graduate enrollments

for the College longer term, beyond 2015 and the shorter term goal of increasing enrollment by 15%. For

example, it may be feasible for CANR to grow to 1,000 or more undergraduates in the next 25 years. Different

scenarios should then be explored and a plan developed to accommodate targeted departmental teaching

growth that takes into consideration strategic resources (faculty, staff and space-farm, wet labs, lecture rooms,

on-line program development). The dean’s plan will address new faculty hires, space needs, etc. The plan must

consider preserving high quality teaching and academic advisement if enrollments are to grow in departments

with current high enrollments. Maintaining program quality is as important as increasing enrollments.

Unique Strengths of the Department

Undergraduate Programs

Academically-rigorous undergraduate programs providing opportunities for hands-on training,

research, internships and study abroad. Majors in Pre-veterinary Medicine and Animal Biosciences,

Animal and Food Sciences, and Food Science. Minor in Equine Science currently under development will

complement current minors in Animal Science and Food Science.

We are particularly known for our PVAB program, which is enhanced by hands-on learning and the on-

farm activities; however, we do not anticipate that this program will grow past the current size. We are

increasingly becoming known for our FOSC program, which will continue to grow over the next 5 years

in undergraduate enrollment.

Research and Graduate Programs

Integrative systems biology programs intersecting impacts of environment/climate, animal

management, host genetics and nutrition, on animal behavior and welfare, productivity, physiology,

pathology and microbiology. Multidisciplinary training of MS and PhD students contribute to diverse

areas in science and engineering.

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Unique research strengths with graduate student training that will continue to grow over the next 5

years include Avian Health, Ruminant Microbiology and Silage Fermentation, and Microbial Food Safety.

Extension/Outreach Programs

Poultry health and production. Seek practical solutions to sustain poultry production by applying

translational research findings to the areas of energy, environment and animal health, welfare, and

productivity. This is an area of historical importance for the state and for the department and will

continue to grow.

Food safety and nutrition. Evaluate the impact of agricultural production practices on food safety and

the development of mitigation strategies to reduce food borne diseases. SNAP-Ed programs are

currently supported by ANFS faculty.

Large animal nutrition and health. Improve utilization of feed and forages. Prevent lameness and loss of

productivity.

Our Vision for the Future

ANFS is an adaptive unit dedicated to maintaining relevancy in animal science and food science for Delaware and

the world. We strive to integrate our scientific expertise into a more robust coordinated program of scholarly

activities and productivity across scientific disciplines (nutrition, physiology, genetics, pathology, animal

management and welfare) and emphasis areas (food, dairy, equine, poultry). We seek to expand our faculty and

their interests to important subject matter areas at the interface of animal and food sciences, namely human

nutrition and physiology and zoonotic diseases.

Goals:

Faculty Hires. We will develop an interdisciplinary research, teaching and outreach program focusing on areas

such as obesity and inflammatory diseases of the intestinal tract of humans and animals. Faculty will be needed

in animal and human nutrition, food science (food quality and safety), and infectious diseases. Research areas

focusing on obesity and inflammation will focus on basic approaches to defining the microbiome of the intestinal

tract in models/systems (monogastrics or ruminants) and impacts on food animal growth/meat quality, health

and human microbial food safety. In particular we would like to see research at the interface of human nutrition

and health using animal models that will use physiology and microbiology directed towards human health in the

food science arena. Research will define effects of genetic and environmental factors, including applications in

the use of pre/probiotics, vaccines, and other alternatives to antibiotics and anticoccidials. Appropriate faculty

hire(s) will seek joint appointments in other departments, such as in Behavioral Health and Human Nutrition,

College of Health Sciences. Seek funding from NIH, NSF, and Gates Foundation, in addition to USDA and industry.

Invite potential applicants/hires to participate in the ANFS Graduate Seminar Series as early as Fall 2013 to

gauge their “fit” and interest for our positions and benefit from their perspectives.

Investigate the feasibility of developing a National Avian Biosciences Center (NABC). Objective is to develop

industry-university-government (USDA) partnership committed to addressing short-and long-term needs of

commercial and small stakeholder poultry producers and the allied industries that support them in the U.S. The

NABC would do as follows: 1) Prioritize and coordinate research and outreach of poultry sciences at Land Grant

universities and USDA ARS facilities; 2) Support teaching of poultry sciences at Land Grant universities by

providing internships and other educational opportunities for students interested in the field; and 3) Seek to

develop sustainable funding from USDA, poultry and allied industry and non-profits and foundations.

41

Partnerships. Explore the feasibility of developing a partnership with one or more multi-national animal

biologics (vaccine) companies to characterize infectious disease agents of domestic animal species worldwide.

Efforts initially will focus on poultry pathogens using established departmental expertise and industry contacts,

but could be expanded to other domestic species. Will enhance our understanding of pathogens in the U.S. and

worldwide via their discovery and characterization. May provide revenues via discovery of novel/new vaccine

candidates. Partner(s) will enhance ANFS scientific expertise via collaborations with company scientists.

Explore the feasibility of developing a produce research facility to be located on the STAR campus that would

work in collaboration with government, and industry on state, national, and international levels. Initial

discussions with the Produce Marketing Association and the DDA have been well-received. The primary goal of

the facility will be to house equipment for testing and use of pathogenic microorganisms in the development of

mitigation strategies and novel treatments and technologies.

Teaching. Evaluate feasibility of expanding ANFS teaching and outreach in food (dairy) science to include new

courses for students and new UDairy Creamery products such as fluid milk, cheese and yogurt. Efforts will

enhance recruitment of high school applicants into the Food Science major, and enhance employment

opportunities for graduates. Will provide opportunities for offering certificate programs to the public.

Expand enrollment in current ANFS courses to non-ANFS, non-CANR majors/audiences on high interest topics

that fulfill University breadth requirements. Targeted courses include ANFS 101- Animals, Science and Society &

ANFS 102-Food for Thought. In addition, ANFS faculty will develop new undergraduate course offerings and

perhaps programs for face to face and on-line delivery, as appropriate, in other high interest courses such as

companion animal science, molecular gastronomy, animal-human bond, etc. Some courses may be offered in

Winter Session and geared to broader audiences and taught at the 100 or 200 levels.

Develop a unique, rigorous equine science minor. In December 2012, ANFS received a very generous donation

from Suzanne and Stuart Grant in support of an equine studies minor. The development of the minor is

underway and will be available to students in Fall 2014. The minor will attract new students to ANFS and CANR

and will provide a basis for the possible development of additional equine-focused courses.

Advisory Committee. Develop ANFS industry advisory group with representation from animal & food producers

and allied industry companies (diagnostics, pharma/vaccine, pre/probiotics, etc.). Advisory group will convey

the educational training requirements for their future employees, provide opportunities for research and

outreach collaborations. Seek paid and unpaid student internships. Host annual meeting showcasing

department’s research, teaching and outreach capabilities, as applicable.

What we will leave behind to achieve the goals

Given the current strength in ANFS and its critical role in CANR, we plan on achieving future goals via

replacement/retirement of faculty. After analyzing the programs and their strengths, we feel that

additional resources are warranted to support the PVAB and to grow the Food Science undergraduate

program. Through UNIDEL funding we may seek additional resources. We are also evaluating the

possibility of a FOSC on-line master’s program.

Short term, ANFS is planning one hire. We would like to have at least one additional line to make a

cluster hire; we will speak with the College of Health Sciences as mentioned above in the development of

unique research areas integrating animal and food science with nutrition.

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Longer term, ANFS will likely have four and possibly as many as eight faculty retirements in the next 5-10 years.

Changes may occur in the areas of silage fermentation due to the retirement of the sole faculty member;

however, the areas of dairy research may branch into other aspects of immunology and nutrition. Strengths in

avian heath and food safety will continue despite retirements.

Stakeholder input

In July 2013, the Department distributed via e-mail and regular mail a questionnaire surveying undergraduate

and graduate student alumni. The survey results are included at the end of this section.

Curricular revision

ANFS offers three majors: Pre-veterinary Medicine and Animal Bioscience (PVMAB), Animal and Food Science

(ANFS), and Food Science (FOSC) (accredited by IFT). ANFS faculty will review the Stamats report with particular

attention to the concern expressed about the Animal and Food Science major. We will better define/describe the

major so undergraduate program applicants have a clearer understanding of its goals, curricular options, and

employment opportunities. The Animal and Food Science major is very important as it offers undergraduates

other subject matter options and greater flexibility not provided by the PVMAB or FOSC major curricula.

Staffing Plan

Livestock/equine professional or staff level employee on the Webb Farm- a need for many years. An

essential need as Equine Science minor evolves and more students enroll in it.

Food science professional to work in the areas of product development, sensory analysis and to interface

with food industries.

Teaching program professional to assess ANFS learning goals. This effort, initiated by the provost at the

University several years ago, has stopped but should be rekindled.

Research technicians-coordinate sharing of technicians among faculty, where appropriate.

Veterinarians will continue to be important members of the ANFS faculty in their areas of expertise in

teaching, research, and outreach and the relevance they bring to maintaining a vibrant pre-veterinary

medicine program.

Space Utilization Plan and Facility Needs

ANFS has not developed a comprehensive specific space utilization plan. We will take under consideration

the plan for Worrilow Hall developed by the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences that we received on

March 22, 2013. Please note below a specific short term need for ANFS Faculty office space.

Our efforts thus far have concentrated on overall facility needs on the CANR campuses in Newark and

Georgetown.

• A renovation of the 33 year-old Worrilow (WOR) Hall, its laboratories and garage is of the

highest priority for CANR and UD. Essential to keep UD CANR at the cutting edge of research and

teaching for Delaware agriculture, and to maintain a skilled workforce. Renovation is equally

important for recruiting new faculty, as well as new undergraduate and graduate students. WOR

Hall has not undergone a renovation since it was built in 1980. The HVAC system does not meet

standards for performing research and other systems (electrical emergency power) are also

woefully inadequate. Renovation plan should take into consideration flexibility shared labs by

multiple faculty using similar technologies. Labs should be designed so that they may be

repurposed as needed. Underutilized space (animal rooms - see “ANFS specific need” below, and

garage) must be reallocated as per the CANR Master Plan; e.g. need based on teaching and

research. Develop strategy to seek support for renovation.

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o Identify food safety research space in WOR Hall devoted to studies of food-borne pathogens.

Food pathogen research is currently performed in Townsend (TNS) Hall but this is not

desirable for safety reasons and does not facilitate optimal research collaboration.

• Build new lecture/lab facility to address greater ANFS, CANR, and UD teaching needs on the South

and Star Campuses. The new facility could be an addition to Worrilow Hall or a separate structure

on the CANR or Star campus.

o Laboratory classrooms

Wet-laboratory classrooms-anatomy, physiology, microbiology, etc.

Food science test kitchen and sensory lab (OA Newton building usage and renovation efforts are being considered)

o Active learning/discussion/PBL classrooms

A classroom on the Webb Farm for ANFS capstone courses and Extension

functions

• Newark Farm –The Farm is recognized by ANFS and other units to be a critical resource that is valued

not only by the current stewards, but by the community and the state. CANR should seek special status

of the farm that could protect it in perpetuity as an open green space or other appropriate type

protected space in Newark as long as it does not limit our own plans for growth.

o *Develop a 25-year plan in conjunction with farm superintendent and staff and the

departments. ANFS in coordination with the existing CANR Livestock Committee will

provide input on animal needs for teaching, research and extension outreach. ANFS

anticipates needing to maintain livestock and poultry and will make specific

recommendations based on our Master Plan. Teaching priorities and needs for animals will

continue although the numbers and perhaps species may change.

o Broiler chicken house on the Newark Farm should be updated to meet our needs for the near

future in Newark. Longer term (5-10 years), the facility will need to be re-evaluated and

probably replaced. Seek support from industry or former donor.

o Additional Newark Farm needs pertaining to ANFS will be provided in future drafts of

this document.

• Georgetown (Carvel) Campus and the Thurman Adams Agricultural Research Farm. ANFS faculty

will work with Director Mark Isaacs and others to provide input into the future opportunities and use

of the farm. The farm is essential to research, graduate education, and Extension efforts in Delaware

and the region.

o *Renovation of the Lasher Lab. ANFS, CANR, UD central administration, the Delaware Dept. of

Agriculture, and the State are currently in discussions to address funding for the renovation.

The 45 year-old laboratory, a biosafety level (BSL) 2 facility, suffers from major system

deficiencies that require frequent and costly repairs to its outdated HVAC, electrical,

plumbing, and refrigeration systems. These deficiencies have the potential to negatively

impact the highly sensitive diagnostic technologies the broiler companies depend on to

certify domestic and exported chicken to be free of avian influenza and other poultry and

potential human pathogens. Of additional concern is the lack of a BSL-3 room with shower-

in shower-out facilities for testing avian influenza specimens that may have potential human

health significance. The Lasher Lab plays a critical role in addressing the serious and diverse

disease problems faced by the region’s $3.2 billion poultry industry. It is the only poultry

diagnostic laboratory in Delaware.

o Build two commercial-type broiler chicken houses on the Thurman Adams Agricultural

Research Farm. The full-size (60’ x 600’), tunnel-ventilated houses will be designed with

specialized instrumentation to address and perform research in the areas of poultry

production, welfare, environment and health. To help offset the cost of construction, the

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houses will generate revenue, via a contract with an integrator. Funding for construction

from broiler/allied industries will also be pursued. The facilities will provide research and

Extension outreach opportunities as few other universities have tunnel ventilated paired

houses. Having a UD-owned facility is important because broiler companies are reluctant to

perform certain research studies (e.g. environmental testing) using contract growers’ houses

because of the possible negative impacts on production. This proposal would be for the near

term (2-5 years).

o Additional Georgetown Farm needs pertaining to ANFS will be provided in future drafts of

this document.

• Explore the feasibility of attracting a companion animal veterinary practice (contacting VCA

(www.vcahospitals.com) or similar veterinary practices) to the STAR campus where Pre- Veterinary

and Animal Biosciences undergraduate majors could intern. Staff veterinarians will be sought to

teach appropriate courses such as introduction to veterinary companion animal medicine.

• *ANFS Current Need. Identify office space on the north end of the ground floor of TNS Hall for

current and future ANFS faculty hires. With the inclusion of two former BREG faculty in ANFS, only

one of the two faculty can currently be accommodated on the ground floor. Our goal is to have the

remaining faculty member’s office relocated from the 2nd to the ground floor. We propose to 1)

relocate the current ANFS graduate student office area (Room 045 TNS) to a renovated Room 126

WOR (current animal room), and 2) re-configure the current graduate student area into ANFS

offices to house current faculty and future hires.

Needs in terms of services from support units such as Information Technology (IT), Communications,

farm and facilities, etc.

• To meet increasing general IT needs and informatics needs for research, it is vital that we retain a systems administrator with these abilities and skills:

o Install and maintain Unix or Linux based servers

o Maintain the security of the servers

o Maintain distributed backups of all data

o Ability to install and maintain a database system

o Familiarity with the computational needs of our research community

o Advise users regarding computer purchases

o Install software packages and trouble-shoot failed installations

• The farm and farm staff at Newark and Georgetown are essential to our goals. In Newark, we have

had serious concerns for some time regarding the lack of farm staffing. We believe a minimum of

two additional staff are needed to reach “normal” staffing levels; one at the Webb farm-

livestock/equine specialist, and one on the main farm-crops specialist. Some of our current farm

staff are overworked now, and we plan on expanding programs for teaching (equine minor) and

research. ANFS faculty strongly recommend using S. Hallock DuPont endowment to support staff

hires and other needs of our farm given that the original intent of this gift was to support livestock

teaching and research. We also recognize that other cost recovery tools may be necessary.

Areas or initiatives in which we should seek to obtain funds, including endowed chairs, awards,

scholarships, etc.

• Seek funds for undergraduate research scholarships, especially for summer sessions.

• Seek endowed chair positions to enhance stature of department and its faculty. Will free-up

funds to make other faculty hires.

http://www.vcahospitals.com/

http://www.vcahospitals.com/

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XI. APPLIED ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS

Introduction and overview

The Department of Applied Economics and Statistics (APEC) recently completed a comprehensive Academic Program Review

(APR) in February 2013, which involved an internal self-assessment of our programs and external input from various

stakeholders and a panel of academic experts from outside institutions. The overall conclusions from the APR are that APEC

faculty and staff have worked very hard in recent years to make significant improvements to our programs and processes.

These changes have resulted in phenomenal growth in high quality output in our teaching, scholarship and outreach activities.

For example, we have experienced significant increase in our number of majors and enrollment in our courses and have seen

a dramatic growth in research output and growth in contracts and grants. According to our 2013 APR panel report: “The

Committee’s overall assessment is that (Applied Economics and Statistics) has a strong M.S. program in both the AREC and

STAT areas … Relative to peer departments, job placement prospects for both AREC and STAT students are excellent and with

competitive starting salaries.”

Using our recent APR process and findings as a starting point, we are approaching the “CANR Master Plan Process” as an

opportunity to further develop a clearer and more specific vision of what we want to become as a department in the next two

decades and why we believe these are reasonable goals to pursue.

Unique strengths of the department

APEC is uniquely positioned to become an academic leader in the blending of scholarship and teaching in the two

disciplines of applied economics and statistics because of the composition of our department’s faculty and

academic programs. Each of the areas of excellence we have chosen to pursue will include a holistic integration of

research, teaching and outreach/Extension. The identified areas of strengths stated below will guide future

activities of the department. We identified two unique strengths with each one supported by four pillars. Each

pillar represents a unique application or expression in support of the area of excellence.

a) An applied economics program with strong emphasis on behavioral economics and quantitative policy

analysis using state-of-the-art tools (e.g., experimental economics and applied econometrics).

We will emphasize stronger integration within the department with the applied statistics program. This

area of excellence will have four pillars that integrate current and future faculty and staff expertise. The

four pillars are:

Consumer response to agricultural markets and innovation

o Focuses on analyzing the economics of consumer behavior in local and global food

markets and related public policy issues in a global food system

Ecosystem service market creation and performance

o Emphasizes the efficient and sustainable provision of ecosystem services from nature and

working lands

Global food security and sustainable development policy

Sustaining profitable production agriculture in the face of suburbanization pressure

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b) An applied statistics program that is a national leader in providing statistical knowledge and service to address real

world problems locally and nationally.

We will emphasize stronger integration within the department with the applied economics program. This area of

excellence will have four pillars that integrate current and future faculty and staff expertise. The four pillars are:

Innovative statistical model development

Statistical literacy and education on campus and the region

o Training in statistical theory and analytical methodology with applications to economics and the

sciences (biological, social sciences, etc.)

o Training the next generation of statisticians at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as

teaching non-majors to use statistics as a tool in their fields

Connection and outreach to private industry and government agencies

o Outreach via internships, seminars, and workshops

Statistical consulting expertise and service (via the StatLab)

o Potential areas of strength: biostatistics, bioinformatics, econometrics, geostatistics, and big data

analysis, experimental design, financial analytics, etc.

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Our vision for the future

The mission and goals of our department are to provide quality education to undergraduate and graduate students,

foster the free exchange of ideas, and engage in scholarly and outreach activities that generate new knowledge

capital that could yield accurate information for making important decisions in the public and private sectors of our

society. APEC has a strong record and tradition of productive programs and personnel who are engaged in

innovative teaching, cutting-edge social science research, and public service in a wide variety of professional areas.

Long-term goals (25 years out):

Double the current number (four) of research active faculty to support growth in scholarship

o Applied economics: increase by adding 4 new hires

o Statistics: increase by adding 4 new hires

o Rationale: support growth in scholarly activities, grantsmanship, teaching and mentoring graduate

students in MS and future PhD programs

Transform each of the three retirements in Extension positions to tenure track faculty (joint focus on

applied research and Extension).

Obtain three endowed chair positions to support very productive faculty, attract new faculty, and enhance

our department’s reputation.

Develop nationally respected PhD programs. Based on 2013 APR recommendation, the initial PhD

program will be in “Applied Economics” and then in “Statistics.”

Build significantly larger capacity for generating extramural funding to support large multidisciplinary and

policy-relevant research.

Increase variety of courses available and modes of instruction at the undergrad and graduate levels.

Develop a statistics program with a national reputation comparable to some of the top statistics

departments in the U.S. that have embraced a more multidisciplinary focus in their research and teaching.

Adopt a smaller scale model of the successful statistics programs at North Carolina State University (NCSU)

and Iowa State University (ISU). For example, Iowa State Univ. describes their statistics programs as

follows:

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o “The department has areas of strength in biological statistics and bioinformatics, engineering

statistics, survey statistics, computational statistics, statistical graphics, Bayesian statistics,

theoretical statistics, statistics education, and spatial and environmental statistics...”

o Our goal is to develop a more collaborative partnership in statistical modeling and applications

with other units at UD. Although APEC does not currently have the number of faculty and staff to

duplicate what NCSU and ISU do, we could still develop a more focused mini-version of some of the

programs they currently have that are relevant to our own needs and aspirations.


In recent years, we deliberated about this issue in response to previous APR recommendations and have made the

following strategic decisions about what to leave behind:

We discontinued the Operations Research graduate program in 2012.

AGED program and corresponding resources have been moved out of our department.

One faculty position (Pat Barber) was left unfilled since 2011 retirement.

Review curriculum to eliminate redundant courses.

Discontinue small enrollment courses that are not deemed necessary for our undergraduate and graduate

majors.

Stakeholder input

Stakeholder inputs were obtained from three sources: APEC alumni, current students, and national experts in our

profession (2013 APR panel of five academics). We conducted a comprehensive survey of our alumni (undergraduate

and graduate) who are now professionals in various fields (business, government agencies, academia, etc.) and asked

for their feedback regarding the quality of our programs and suggestions for improvements. Below is a summary of

their responses.

Undergraduate Students:

A total of 351 undergraduate alumni from 1995 to 2010 served as the population for this study. We had a 31.1

percent overall response rate. Here are several key points from the survey:

Two-fifths (40%) of our students decided upon an APEC major before entering the University.

Most of our undergraduates (58%) found their “first job” in the private sector.

More than one half (52%) of our graduates started at salaries between $30,001 and $40,000. The average

current salary now is $63,350, which is consistent with the national average for similar disciplinary

graduates. In a 2011 report by researchers at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the

Workforce, using the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the median income at the 25%

(75%) percentile for agricultural economics (and agribusiness) graduates are $39,000 ($92,000). The full

report can be downloaded at the Georgetown site: http://cew.georgetown.edu/whatsitworth/.

The students indicated that we do a very good job in availability of the advisor, willingness of the advisor to

help, opportunities for interaction with faculty, and the attitude of the faculty toward students; “excellent”

ratings over 50% were secured. In addition, the department rated well in fairness of grading, quality of

instruction, availability of courses, clarity of degree requirements, and quality of initial contacts with the

department; combined “good” and “excellent” ratings were received.

http://cew.georgetown.edu/whatsitworth/

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Furthermore, our 2013 APR external reviewers had interviews with current APEC students and received

valuable feedback. In their report, they stated the following:

“Undergraduate students and alumni expressed a high level of satisfaction with the level of personal attention and

advising the department offers, the breadth of course plans and options that are offered, career opportunities, and

preparation for graduate school. Students in each major found programs tailored to their interests and

opportunities to build skills inside and outside their courses. The FABM, ERE, and NRM majors also expressed a

strong identification with being part of the College.”

Graduate Students:

In a recent Alumni Survey of graduate students over the past 15 years, former graduate students identified

financial support (73.9%), contacts with the department (63.8%), personal recommendations (60.9%), and

course offerings (53.6%) as strong factors in choosing the department as a place to undertake graduate study.

Students gave high “excellent” ratings for their advisor’s help (72.1%), opportunities for interaction with

faculty (65.7%), advisor availability (64.7%), professional competence of faculty (61.8%), and attitude of

faculty (61.8%). Lower marks were given to graduate room/office facilities, and post-graduation career

advising, although ratings of “excellent” and “good” combined for these areas were still well over 67 percent.

The mean starting salary over a 15-year period was nearly $55,000, and the current salary of graduate alumni

was nearly $84,000.

Career/Job Placement: The graduates were asked about their first job placement. Virtually all of our students

find their first job within a few months of graduating. The data and statistical tools taught in all of our degrees

have become very valuable in the job market. For those who went on to Ph.D. programs, most received funding

in the form of fellowships, research and teaching assistants. The two companies that employed the most of our

graduates were JPMorgan Chase and Bank Of America. Other companies reflect a diverse set of firms including

Dupont, Barclay’s, Exelon Power Team, Cardinal Health, Education Testing Service, and Lucent Technologies, to

name a few. In recent years, educational institutions that have admitted and funded our past MS degree

graduates for Ph.D. degrees include: Cornell University, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, Texas A&M,

North Carolina State University, UPenn, UC-Davis, and the University of Florida.

Curricular revision

In the past five years, we have made a variety of revisions to each of our majors. However, in response to a

recent Stamats report and the recommendations in our 2013 APR panel report, we plan to revisit each of our

majors and revise the course requirements, where necessary. For example, in our 2013 APR report the review

team observes, “The two applied economics undergraduate majors do not currently have a common core of

courses that train all students as applied economists. This would be accomplished, and the program

strengthened, by having the Food and Agribusiness Marketing and Management (FABM) and Environmental

and Resource Economics (ERE) take the same common core of calculus, introductory and intermediate

microeconomics, and statistics/quantitative courses.” These are two very important majors in our department

that deserve closer review for possible improvements.

Staffing plan

Currently unfilled and imminent retirements – (Rank and Date of retirement is in parenthesis):

1. Teaching/Research Faculty (Assoc. Prof.) - Applied Econ/AgED (December 2011)

2. Teaching/Research Faculty (Assoc. Prof.) - Applied Econ/OR (December 2012)

3. Extension/Research Faculty - Applied Econ/Extension Specialist (Jan. 2013)

4. Extension/Research Faculty (Full Prof.) - Applied Econ/Extension (Jan. 2014)

5. Teaching/Research Faculty (Full Prof.) - Statistics (May 2013)

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6. Teaching/Research Faculty (Full Prof.) - Statistics (December 2013)

7. Teaching/Research Faculty (Assistant Prof.) - Statistics (May 2014)

8. Teaching/Research Faculty (Assoc. Prof.) - Statistics (May 2015)

Based on recommendations of the 2013 APR panel report, we request the following positions:

Applied Economics: In addition to current staffing, our department needs to hire:

o 2-4 new tenure track faculty to support the establishment of a Ph.D. program.

o 2 tenure track faculty (research and extension). This will be done in consultation with the

director of cooperative extension.

Statistics: Immediate hire of 3-5 tenure track positions to replace pending retirements with at least

one at the associate professor or higher.

Administrative Staffing: While APEC has grown in size and responsibilities over the past two decades,

resources for administrative staff support remained constant. Our entire department has only two

administrative staff support (assistant to the chair and staff assistant for Graduate Programs), but CANR only

provides full salary for one of the positions and 75% for the other. We request that:

CANR should cover the full salary for both administrative support staff members

Based on the 2013 APR panel recommendation, CANR should approve the hiring of one additional

support staff to assist with the management of grants and accounting. Responsibilities would include

assistance with grants submission and post-grant administration on the financial and compliance

sides.

Space utilization and facility needs

Faculty/Staff offices

o We have just enough space for offices, but have no room for additional growth.

Center for Applied and Experimental Economics

o There is need for larger and more functional space. (Update: renovation is underway)

Graduate Student offices

o We have a large number of graduate students, but have very limited space for the students. Currently,

only funded students (about 65% of total) have office space.

Post-doc and visiting professor offices

o We need dedicated office spaces for post-docs and visiting faculty.

Townsend Hall (TNS) class room teaching spaces

o TNS has limited classroom space for computer lab instruction (e.g., GIS courses).

Needs from support units

Need better designed and easier to navigate websites to attract prospective students (and potential

faculty/staff) to our department.

Need more timely and effective technical assistance for web development and maintenance, computers,

software, and support for research.

There is an urgent need for a major overhaul and redesign of our departmental webpages across the college.

The centralized administration of technical and web development support has been inadequate and quite

limited in meeting our departmental needs. For example, we have been asking for help in revising the

structure and content of our department websites for almost two years and have yet to get the type of

assistance we need.

The allocation of more resources to web design/maintenance and general IT may be needed to complement

the role filled by one single web designer in CANR.

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Faculty and staff members of APEC would like to have more access to making basic updates to the content of

our departmental website.

Development needs

New faculty hires

Endowed chair positions

Center for Experimental and Applied Economics

Undergraduate and graduate research scholarships

Funded undergraduate summer internship programs

Scholarships for undergrads involved in experiential learning (e.g., NAMA club, conference travels, etc.)

Foundational steps to be taken in 2014

Curricular Revision and consolidation of some undergrad majors:

o Subcommittee to review.

Ph.D. program in Applied Economics: Subcommittee to explore feasibility.

Relocation of the Center for Experimental and Applied Economics and the renovation of the previous ag.

library space.

Faculty Searches: Obtain CANR dean’s approval to set up search committees.

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XII. ENTOMOLOGY AND WILDLIFE ECOLOGY


The mission of the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology is “to conduct basic and applied research on

entomological and wildlife conservation issues that addresses society’s problems, improves management practices

that are compatible with environmental stewardship, and advances biological and ecological knowledge; to educate

undergraduate and graduate students to become professionals and citizens capable of solving problems and

disseminating information; and to assist the public in matters related to insects, wildlife and other forms of

biodiversity.”

Research and teaching in the department encompasses the study of invertebrate and vertebrate animals at the

organismic level with topics including but not limited to: insect and wildlife ecology, patterns in animal diversity and

abundance, population processes and demographics, interactions with plants, the environment and humans, and long-

term management and conservation. The department also addresses ways to mitigate negative impacts of insects and

wildlife and on humans, while maintaining or restoring biodiversity and ecosystem integrity, particularly in

ecosystems heavily managed for the human enterprise. The department’s Extension mission is to educate the public

about the importance of coexisting with insects and wildlife, as well as to help them apply research results through

Extension programs in integrated pest management, including the safe and effective use of pesticides and other pest

management techniques.


1) Wildlife Ecology and Conservation with expertise in human-wildlife conflicts, ecological monitoring,

habitat management and restoration, migration ecology, wildlife ecology, and wildlife population

management.

2) Conservation Biology with expertise in aeroecology, biodiversity, climate change, energy development (i.e.,

wind energy), and invasive species.

3) Entomology with expertise in agricultural entomology, apiculture, biocontrol, integrated pest management,

and pollination ecology.

Distinctive attributes of the department

1) Our focus is on wild animals: Our department is the only group on campus focused on the ecology and

conservation of terrestrial organisms in natural environments. Our unique combination of faculty expertise

in vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants allows us to investigate multitrophic interactions, a powerful

approach to conservation issues.

2) The interaction between Entomology and Wildlife Conservation: Students in both majors benefit by

exposure to the other discipline. Our Wildlife majors are more employable than their competitors because of

their knowledge of insects, and our Entomology majors have a broader awareness of biodiversity and the

interactions of insects and vertebrates. Ours is the only department in the country to offer this synergistic

combination of majors.

3) Our location: We are located within the heart of the Northeast urban crescent (D.C. to Boston) and adjacent

to the largest tidal wetlands in the world. Wildlife, entomological, and ecological issues faced by 20% of the

U.S. population occur locally.

4) The proximity of research and teaching field sites: The University farm, ecology woods, Webb Farm woods,

Iron Hill Park, Fair Hill Natural Resource Management Area, and White Clay Creek State Park are all within a

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mile of Townsend hall and allow us to expose students to field research in ways that most other universities

cannot.

We are perfectly positioned for convenient collaborations with world class research institutions such as the Patuxent

Wildlife Research Center, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, the American Museum of Natural History, the Baltimore

NSF LTER program and others. We are also positioned to address the impact of sea level rise on the salt marsh

ecosystem and migratory waterfowl.

Our department depends heavily on external collaborations, particularly for our research programs. We are always

seeking new opportunities for collaborations and will continue to do so in the future. We have a large established

network of like-minded institutions and scientists. Our adjunct faculty are associated with the Delaware Museum of

Natural History, the USDA Beneficial Insects Introduction lab, Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, CANR’s

department of Animal and Food Sciences, Stroud Water Research Center, Northeast Grassland Bird Working Group,

DuPont Co, The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, USDA Forest Service, and the National Park Service. Many of our

adjuncts collaborate on research projects with our faculty. We have externally funded projects with NSF; USDA NIFA;

State Wildlife agencies in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey; US Fish and Wildlife Service; USGS;

USDA APHIS Wildlife Services; USDA NRCS; USDA Forest Service; DuPont Co.; Panthera; and Wildlife Conservation

Society.

Active collaborations include:

Greg Shriver: US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program, University of

Maine and the University of Connecticut along with the State of Maine, Delaware Department of Natural Resources

and Environmental Control, and Maryland/DC Audubon; Delaware State for turbine project; UD EOE and USDA Forest

Service for the FRAME project.

Douglas Tallamy: Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center; University of Maryland; Beneficial Insect Research lab; USDA

National Integrated Water Quality program with PLSC and FREC

Jake Bowman: Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife, Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service, The Nature

Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, USDA/APHIS Wildlife Services, and US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Debby Delaney: N.C. State; Cornell University; Penn State; Virginia Tech; West Virginia University; and State

Beekeeping Associations

Judy Hough-Goldstein: USDA Forest Service; N.J. Dept of Ag

Jeff Buler: Delaware State; UD EOE, USGS, USDA NRCS

Chuck Mason: DuPont Co.

Kyle McCarthy: Panthera; Wildlife Conservation Society

Joanne Whalen: University of Maryland

Chris Williams: Ducks Unlimited; New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

Charles Bartlett: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences; American Museum of Natural History.

Summary: We are pleased with the niche we fill within UD and the greater academic community in the mid-Atlantic

area but we can meet even more needs by expanding our programs. We believe that with our current department

structure (an even balance between entomology and wildlife), we will be well-positioned to meet the changing

conservation and wildlife/entomological needs of the state and region in the coming decades. We are already

addressing the conservation of biodiversity, wildlife species management, the pest control needs in agriculture,

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invasive species, climate change and sea level rise, restoration ecology, pollination challenges, forest fragmentation,

and integrating modern farming practices with conservation needs. All of these issues will intensify over the coming

decades and we may need to expand our programs in these areas to meet these demands.

Our vision of the future

We do not plan to change the proportion of our faculty specializing in Wildlife and Entomology, but with the recent

addition of two faculty members from the Department of Bioresources Engineering will have the opportunity to focus

in new areas as these faculty members retire. Specifically, we would benefit from a faculty member who specializes in

disease/toxicology/physiology in terrestrial organisms. Each year new diseases (e.g., avian influenza, chronic wasting

disease) and toxins (e.g., mercury) are emerging issues that threaten not only our ecosystems but also the wildlife that

inhabit them, including humans. This type of faculty specialty would benefit both the entomology and wildlife

research programs. Our future hires need to be sufficiently diverse in the research area to benefit from the ever

changing challenges to resource conservation (e.g., climate change, energy development).

As existing entomology faculty retire, we will carefully consider whether replacing them with their current areas of

expertise (behavioral ecologist/insect ecologist for Tallamy; agricultural entomologist for Mason; biocontrol

entomologist for Hough-Goldstein) is warranted. Areas such as agricultural entomology and biological control of

invasive insects are areas of interest to our diverse stakeholder groups. We will reevaluate the future faculty hires and

direction of the department after each hire.


1) We can terminate our Plant Protection major with agreement by PLSC;

2) We are willing to lose the Ecology and Organismal Biology concentration within the Environmental Science

major;

3) As recommended by the APR review committee, we are ready to dissolve the Center for Managed

Ecosystems as a formal entity;

4) Our Extension personnel can become more focused with thin staff if they give up the certified crop Advisor

program, pest recommendation guides, and insect trapping programs.

Stakeholder input (forthcoming)

Curricular revision

a) undergraduate

We make minor revisions and adjustments to our curriculum every semester to keep our offerings current and

attractive. The requirements and policies have been updated periodically to implement the several changes made in

our program offerings and to facilitate consistency in administering certain aspects of our programs. For example, at

the graduate level we added the section for M.S. students who plan to continue in the Ph.D. program as more of our

M.S. students requested reclassification to begin their doctoral studies. ‘Our course requirements have changed as the

Wildlife Ecology side of our graduate programs have grown and matured. For example, in 2000 we required ENWC

614, Insect Ecology, for our graduate degrees. This course has evolved into 814, Advanced Ecology, to accommodate

more graduate level topics and to cover a broader range of upper level ecology of animals and plants. We have also

strengthened or added offerings in Herpetology, Ornithology, Population Ecology, Wildlife Research Techniques,

Conservation Biology, Wildlife Habitat Management, Wildlife Policy and Administration, Landscape Ecology, and

Advanced Spatial Modeling to better accommodate the graduate programs not only in Wildlife Ecology, but also in

Entomology.

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In recent years, we have conducted a major revision of the Wildlife curriculum three times to keep pace with national

trends and ensure that our graduates meet certification requirements of the Wildlife Society. Such a revision,

however, is overdue for our Entomology major.

We have expanded our undergraduate course enrollment in Wildlife Conservation substantially in the last few years

and believe we can continue to expand, at least modestly, in the future with the courses we now have in place. We are

currently working to distinguish our Wildlife Conservation major and Ecology major from the Environmental Science

“themes” being proposed by EOE to minimize confusion among students about how these majors differ. Our Ecology

major is new and is still in the five year trial period. We hope to see more growth in the Ecology major and we will

discontinue the major if it remains small after the five year probationary period. One way to possibly increase

enrollment in the Ecology Major would be for ENWE to teach the University’s introductory ecology course (now

taught as BISC 302), but only with additional faculty and TA support.

A significant proportion of our majors transfer into the department after matriculating at UD. They do this because

they were unaware of our programs when they were considering UD. We hope to reverse this trend by improved

marketing approaches.

We offer the strongest and most diverse study abroad programs in the College. They are popular courses that

routinely fill with 1/3 of the student applicants. We would like to meet the study abroad needs of more students but

cannot expand without additional faculty to spread the effort required for effective study abroad courses. We are

considering new on campus winter session options but we will proceed with these cautiously because of the high

teaching loads our research faculty already carry. Tallamy is offering a new course entitled “Humans and Nature” that

targets non-majors. He hopes to get it approved to satisfy University science and breadth requirements so that it can

expand in enrollment quickly.

Measurable Milestone

1) In five years we will have increased our Entomology and Ecology majors to 30-40 students each or we will

fold them into an umbrella major.

Action Item:

1) Review and revise Entomology Curriculum in 2014

2) Survey transfer students to determine how we can better market our majors to prospective students

b) Graduate programs

The overarching goal of our graduate program is to offer quality training in Entomology and Wildlife Ecology and

Conservation with a focus on population management, restoration, and conservation. We emphasize taxonomic skills

at all trophic levels; this sets our program apart from most others. The Department offers graduate programs leading

to the Master of Science (M.S.) in Entomology, M.S. in Wildlife Ecology, and the Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in

Entomology and Wildlife Ecology and typically trains 30 students at any given time. We are pleased with this size

because it currently matches employment demands and we do not have any challenges attracting excellent graduate

students. Presently, we are turning away ¾ of our graduate applicants because of lack of supporting funds.

The M.S. in Entomology has been offered since 1949. During this time, the department built a strong reputation in the

nation as a feeder for Ph.D. programs. The M.S. in Wildlife Ecology was added in 2004 and the Ph.D. degree program

received provisional status effective September 1, 1999. It received permanent status in 2008.

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There have been 69 degrees granted from our graduate program over the past 10 years (6 Ph.D. and 63 M.S.) with 49

of those students graduating since our last 5-year review. Currently, we have 34 graduate students (10 Wildlife Ph.D.,

2 Entomology Ph.D., 9 Wildlife M.S., 8 Entomology M.S.). Twenty-six of these students are on full-time funding through

a research assistantship, teaching assistantship, or fellowship.

Nearly all of our graduates have gained employment within the field or have transitioned to advanced degree

programs. Among the 63 Master’s graduates, 16 have gone on to pursue a doctoral program.

The new Ph.D. program seems to have improved the number and quality of applications to our graduate program.

While it is possible to go directly to the Ph.D. program, we require that students complete the M.S. degree before being

admitted or reclassified into the doctoral degree program in Entomology and Wildlife Ecology. Students already

matriculated in the M.S. Program in Entomology or Wildlife Ecology who plan to pursue the doctoral degree may

request reclassification to the Ph.D. program as a pre-candidate in lieu of reapplying for graduate study.

We recognize that our Ph.D. graduate curriculum could provide more courses at the 800 level. We will continue to

address this need in the coming years. Of particular importance is a course in biometrics and experimental design. We

have sought such a course from the statistics group for decades but the need remains. Our APR review identified this

area as a top priority for curriculum additions.

We are concerned that four potential budget threats could act together to downsize our graduate program. The most

serious threat would be a reversal of UD’s long-standing policy of waiving graduate tuition when grants cover a

stipend. We are skeptical about administration suggestions to shift graduate support to grants. Many of our granting

agencies (e.g. state agencies or smaller federal grants) simply will not absorb these costs. Second is the erosion of

Hatch assistantships. If Hatch budgets disappear in the coming years, so will support for five graduate students. Third,

we are concerned about the increasing overhead rate required by non-State of Delaware agencies, which is currently

41%. We have already received criticism from one granting agency that this rate may over-price their ability to fund

our proposals. We are similarly concerned that continuous University mandated raises in graduate stipends and

overhead will make us less competitive with state and federal natural resources agencies that fund so much of our

wildlife research. Wildlife graduate programs across the country offer lower stipends than biology or engineering

programs. We will make every effort to funnel RBB monies toward graduate student support rather than S-contracts,

but our graduate program will shrink considerably if we lose tuition remission, Hatch assistantships, have to charge

higher overhead rates, and graduate stipends continue to increase.

We are seeking creative approaches to funding graduate work but funding remains our biggest challenge in the near

term. One approach could be to direct substantial gifts to the department toward graduate assistantships.

Collaborations with groups such as The Mt. Cuba Center, The Garden Club of America, US Forest Service Philadelphia

Field Station, and the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, could also generate support for graduate students

that we have not taken advantage of in the past.

Action Items:

1) Strengthen graduate course offerings to provide more depth and specialty options for Ph.D. as well as

Master’s students.

2) Explore nontraditional sources of graduate funding (i.e. other federal agencies, NGOs and private donors)

3) Create an in-house course in biometrics and experimental design

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Staffing Plan

Of our 10 faculty, 8 are full-time tenure track lines and two (Charles Bartlett and Kyle McCarthy) are on non-tenure

track lines. With the addition of Jeff Buler and Kyle McCarthy, our wildlife program is now supported by five faculty

members and matches our five faculty lines in entomology. We recently received two additional faculty lines (1 tenure

and 1 non-tenure track) when Bioresources Engineering department was dissolved. These lines will offer us an

opportunity to focus in new areas as these faculty retire.

The Extension program in our department consists of two full-time Extension specialists (Joanne Whalen; IPM and Ag

Program leader, and Brian Kunkel; ornamentals IPM), an Extension agent (Bill Cissell; IPM) and Debbie Delaney, who

carries a 25% Extension appointment in apiculture. Susan King’s position as pesticide coordinator was eliminated in

2009. Joanne Whalen has also served as Ag Program leader for the state since 2010.

Three of the five entomology faculty in our department are nearing the end of their careers, as is Joanne Whalen, the

cornerstone in Delaware’s entomology Extension program for the past 32 years. How these people will be replaced

will determine the future direction of the department.

Action Item:

1) Determine the areas of focus for upcoming new hires

Currently, we get by with 1.5 secretaries. This is a loss of 0.5 secretaries even though our department is now larger

and more productive than at any time in its history. We recently added an administrative assistant. This person took

over the grant administration, human resources, budgeting, web maintenance, etc. that was handled centrally by the

College. As more responsibilities are transferred to the departments, additional staffing should be added also.

We hope to continue to integrate Extension into our faculty with future hires. Currently, our only faculty member with

a formal Extension appointment is Debbie Delaney. When Joanne Whalen retires, we hope to add her replacement to

our faculty ranks.

Space Utilization and facility needs

Teaching space. All of our lab courses have space issues. Our teaching lab (Townsend 012) has limited bench space

and microscope availability. Expanding class size is not an option without expanding sections offered. We can

accommodate this expansion in our introductory courses using TAs as lab instructors, but labs of our advanced

taxonomy courses are taught by faculty rather than graduate students simply because of the required level of

expertise. Therefore, adding sections for these courses will substantially increases class time commitment for some of

our key research faculty. We as a department and the college as a whole need a facility that accommodates larger lab

sections. This might be met through renovations in Worrilow, use of the conference room in the girl scouts building or

some other innovative approach.

Offices and research labs. Currently, all of our faculty and Extension personnel have their own offices. We are

fortunate in that most of our wildlife faculty do not require standard wet labs. We do need to maintain a shared

molecular lab that is well used and maintained. It has become more cost efficient to send samples for particular

analyses (mercury, genomic analyses, radio isotopes, etc.) to specialized labs rather than do them ourselves. If we do

expand entomology and wildlife faculty positions we will need to add lab space for those new positions. Our graduate

students have adequate office space. It does not look like we will be expanding our graduate program so this condition

should hold well into the future.

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Facilities.

1) Permanent storage for field equipment including radar equipment and boats is a long-term storage need.

Our woodlot shed was destroyed by a tree fall years ago. In addition to our garage space in Worrilow we also

need a 40x60’ pole barn, to address these needs.

2) The Insect Reference Collection (Museum) has been restricted by serious space constraints for two

decades. The working conditions within this important resource are appalling and are an embarrassment

when visiting scientists come to use the facility. We have submitted specs for what would constitute adequate

space to the CANR Space Committee.


Maintain farm services

Both the University farm and the woodlot represent essential teaching and research facilities for faculty, as well as

important sites for undergraduate research. For logistical reasons, nearly all of our impressive undergraduate

research projects are conducted within these facilities. In addition to traditional research plots, the farm has wetlands,

warm season grasslands, riparian corridors, and forest fragments that are used as habitat by a great diversity of birds,

mammals, and insects. The presence of the woodlot enables field-based teaching exercises such as squirrel mark-

recapture and vegetative analyses that would otherwise be impossible. Moreover, the UD ecology woods is a classic

example of urban forest fragmentation and provides an excellent research site for studies examining conservation in

such sites. It has been listed as one of Delaware’s Natural Areas worthy of protection by the Delaware Nature Society.

Nevertheless, both the UD ecology woods and the Newark farm itself are under constant threat from competing

interests such as athletics. Vigilance must be maintained to prevent the loss of this crucial training and research site.

IT needs

1) The loss of our computer replacement program has been problematic and we would like to see the return

of this program.

2) Several faculty would benefit from planned up-grades to our long-distance conferencing capabilities. This

will help facilitate graduate committee meetings, extension programs, teaching efforts down state.

3) We would all benefit from better access (i.e. faster and greater capacity) to data storage, archiving, and file

sharing on the CANR network.

4) Establishment of an FTP server to permanently store and deliver existing and future scientific software

and/or datasets produced from sponsored research projects.

5) The availability of and instruction in how to use current web-based design tools. For example, instruction

in how to use Wordpress, Dreamweaver, or other web design programs, how to create applications, how to

track web traffic for evaluation purposes, etc. would relieve IT over the long run. Departmental websites

would require a trained webmaster for maintenance; perhaps our new Administrative Assistant? We have

several that need maintaining and periodic updating (e.g., Biological Control, FRAME, MAAREC,

Planthoppers).

Our three undergraduate majors are not marketed well on the college web site or on our own web site. Many

incoming freshman declare majors in Biology, Animal Science, or Environmental Science (or do not declare majors at

all) when what they really want is Wildlife Conservation. With suggestions from the STAMATs evaluation, we hope to

identify majors while they are still in high school. We have contracted the services of Tom Ilvento to help survey

alumni. We also plan to survey incoming freshman, High School juniors, current majors, and transfer students to help

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us identify better marketing approaches for our programs. We will use the results of these surveys to determine what

catch phrases will attract more students to consider our programs.

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XIII. PLANT AND SOIL SCIENCES


The aim of teaching, research, and extension in the Department of Plant & Soil Sciences department is to enhance the

quality and sustainability of our agricultural, natural and managed landscapes on a scale that ranges from the

molecule to the mountain, providing students the preparation needed for success in the sciences, horticultural and

agronomic industries. In pursuit of these aims, we will:

Perform basic and applied research about plants, soils, water, microbes, and their interactions at the level of

the molecule and cell, organism and population.

Integrate basic, translational, and applied research to improve growth, development, and adaptation of plants

in varied and changing environments.

Understand nutrient and trace-element cycling in natural and anthropogenically-impacted environments.

Educate our stakeholders about the discoveries we make via publications, outreach and extension.

We offer an interdisciplinary program that integrates people, plants, soils and water. This includes understanding and

designing sustainable, healthy ecosystems in natural, urban and managed landscapes. We aim to offer focused,

rigorous training that requires critical thinking, problem solving, and a translation of knowledge and education to

application. The success of our graduates will be measured in their impact in meeting future challenges to agriculture,

landscapes, and ecosystems.

Our aim is to define the goals for our department and set the priorities to achieve those goals. The end product will be

an improved and enlarged undergraduate program, better-integrated graduate training, and development of novel,

externally-funded research activities to advance plant and soil sciences and to achieve international recognition for

our work. All of these aims will be enhanced through our interactions with our stakeholders via education, extension

and outreach activities.


Our unique strengths that allow us to fulfill this vision are:

A strong, integrated faculty with outstanding international reputations in (1) plant biology, (2) soil

chemistry and environmental science, (3) landscape horticulture.

A concentration of research on the interface between plants, microbes, and soils, and on the mechanisms

which mediate their interactions.

Remarkable breadth in our work that spans basic to applied research, and translates many of those

findings to the field, while training students, stakeholders, and scientists.


The current state of the PLSC undergraduate program and our majors is that we have had a relatively low number of

undergraduate majors for many years, with our largest cohort in the Landscape Design & Horticulture programs.

There are nearly as many graduate students in our department as undergraduate students. The low undergraduates-

to-faculty ratio facilitates one-on-one interactions that are a hallmark of our department, although this would be

negatively impacted if we were required to eliminate some of our low-enrollment courses. However, the number of

undergraduates is too low, resulting in cancellation of some courses, and this number is below a level that may be

sustainable. So while keeping these close interactions with the students, we would like to:

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See growth in the number of undergraduate majors to a healthier level, aiming for approximately 100

undergraduates in our department (versus 40-50 today).

Teach exciting undergraduate and graduate level courses that are attractive to our majors as well as non-

majors.

Continue to provide a high level of mentoring and advising.

Increase the credit-contact hours of our faculty.

Increase the use of active learning processes in our courses.

Enhance employment opportunities for the students via more internship and training opportunities.

Improve our utilization of online teaching by offering a small number of additional, online courses to

broaden our engagement with students and providing easier access to course materials.

The current state of the PLSC research program is that our department has had a steady increase in grant

submissions, funding, and publications over the last five years. We seek to build on this success over the long term by

reinforcing and building on this success through support of research-active faculty and the staff that contribute to this

success. This research productivity depends on robust graduate programs, and thus there is some independency with

the goal to build that program.


The primary thing that we anticipate leaving behind is the antiquated view of working in isolation within our

department. Over many years, our department has been evolving towards multidisciplinary programs, evident in the

numerous faculty members with joint appointments, cross-listed courses, and the cross-campus location of the

facilities at which our faculty are located. Our teaching programs will benefit from reduced barriers across

departments as we’ll be able to attract a broader range of students. Likewise, our research and graduate education

programs will be greatly enhanced by projects and grants that span the university. All aspects of our departmental

efforts will be enriched by greater engagement in our community and local or regional businesses.

Beyond this, we are planning to make changes to our majors (described below) that will “leave behind” aspects of our

current academic programs.

Stakeholder input

The clearest group of stakeholders is our alumni, who have experienced our teaching and research programs, and

then gone on to work at businesses, in the government, non-profits, academic or other institutions. We are currently

awaiting the results of survey.

Curricular revision

We have several proposed changes to our undergraduate majors, grouped into three major areas – the first two are

our current majors, while the third is a proposed new major.

Plant-related majors currently include the following:

Landscape Horticulture and Design. Enrollment is 25 in 2013.

Plant Science. Enrollment is 26 in 2013.

Plant Protection. This major is shared with ENWC. Enrollment is 2 in 2013.

In the long-term, we envision consolidation of these majors into a smaller set of majors with concentrations, perhaps

consolidating these majors across departments within the college to create interdepartmental majors.

We are also actively discussing the development of a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (B.L.A.) degree program,

which for accreditation purposes may need to be a stand-alone major. If this proves successful, it could serve to launch

a Master of Landscape Architecture degree at some point in the future.

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Thus, in the near term, our plan for the plant-related majors is to offer two majors, one focused on landscape design

(retaining that successful program and its emphasis on design), and one that integrates soil and environmental

science into our plant science major, with concentrations that focus on basic sciences in these areas.

The long-term target for undergraduate enrollment is to grow to more than 100 undergraduates within the next five

to ten years, while keeping in mind that some of the students who would be interested in the current majors might

end up in the Genetics & Genomics major described below.

Another current major to reconfigure is Environmental Soil Science.

The future of this major is an area of active discussion by the faculty, as the enrollment is just 2 students in 2013. The

challenge is that we have a number of highly acclaimed faculty members, including many junior faculty members who

are interested to grow the program, yet most of their work is in the larger “environmental” area which is largely

occupied by other colleges at UD. The courses we offer in this area count towards the concentration in Environmental

Soil Science, within the Environmental Science major, but none are part of the required core of classes for that major,

or any of the other nine concentrations within that major.

As mentioned above, the option that the faculty have been discussing is consolidating the Environmental Soil Science,

Plant Horticulture, and Landscape Design majors into a single major (as yet untitled). This new major would have a

common core of classes required of all students plus three tracks for specialization, tentatively entitled: 1. Agricultural

Sciences (agronomy), 2. Ecosystems Sciences (Soils, Ecology issues). 3. Plant Sciences/Biology. The Agricultural

Sciences track would focus on producing graduates interested in agronomic education and crop management with a

sustainability focus. The Ecosystem Science track would essentially replace the current Environmental Soil Science

major and produce graduates interested in natural resource sciences and management, ecosystem restoration,

environmental consulting, government scientific organizations, or may lead to enrollment in graduate school. And the

Plant Biology concentration would focus on basic plant sciences including horticulture, plant propagation, molecular

biology, etc. This proposed change would reduce the number of majors in the department, have a title that is more

attractive to incoming students, and will provide courses, both existing and new, that will bring together the existing

strengths among our faculty and increase university-wide enrollment in PLSC courses.

The long-term target for our Environmental Soil Science program is for growth, but this is likely to be achieved via

integration with other majors, in the near term.

We propose a new major: Genetics & Genomics.

We envision the creation of an interdepartmental degree program that leverages the expertise of faculty across CANR

that work in the area of genetics and genomics, a field with clear, long-term relevance to agriculture and natural

resources management. Major objectives are to: [1] offer a contemporary degree program with expansive job

opportunities for graduates; [2] provide more flexible degree options for students with multiple inlets and outlets; a

key feature being a contiguous BS/MS program; [3] capitalize on common threads in research and extension activities

among CANR faculty. Such a program would benefit a number of faculty members in our department, so it is to our

benefit to develop and grow such a program.

The target for undergraduate enrollment in this new Genetics & Genomics program is to make this a large program,

hopefully exceeding our other two large majors which currently have ~30 students each. In other words, we envision

this program as an opportunity that could support significant growth.

The current state of the PLSC graduate program and our fields of study is that the total number of graduate students in

our department is relatively strong, with nearly as many graduate students as undergraduates. This is because we

have many faculty with well-funded research programs that support their students. Plus, the Longwood Graduate

Program has independent funding for graduate students. However, because we have a single graduate program, our

graduate students share few courses, and enrollment in some courses is weak, perhaps because we have almost no

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course requirements. Addressing this problem will require greater enrollment of our students across a broader range

of our course offerings – a change that is currently underway as a result of the hiring of new faculty that are

committed to making such a change.

Proposed changes to our graduate concentration areas:

Area of emphasis: Landscape Horticulture and Design

The Longwood Graduate Program (LGP) is highly successful, but enrollment is limited because for financial reasons

and the time it takes the faculty adviser to successfully mentor a cohort of students. We anticipate little growth in the

LGP program. Ultimately, however, growth in this area could come in large part from a master’s degree program in

landscape architecture (M.L.A.) which would have a unique strength (relative to other MLA programs) due to our

department’s strong expertise in plants and public gardens. The development of this program would depend on the

successful development of the undergraduate BLA major discussed above.

We also would like to grow research programs in the area of horticulture, which could include breeding and

development of ornamentals, fruits or vegetables; a faculty member with expertise in breeding of ornamentals would

fit very well with the Genetics & Genomics program described elsewhere. And the new faculty position in Urban

Forestry should be involved in growing this program in new directions that will support horticulture.

Area of emphasis: Plant Biology

The development of the new undergraduate major in Genetics & Genomics (“G&G”) would provide excellent benefits

for the graduate program in plant biology, which includes most of our faculty working in the area of molecular biology.

We envision that the G&G program would include a number of large classes that would require teaching assistants

(TAs). With these TAs, we could bring in a cohort of graduate students that could rotate among labs, comprising a

more typical graduate program. In addition, the G&G program would offer a 4+1 program, whereby students could

receive an M.S. degree with one additional year of school after their undergraduate degree. This would be a non-

thesis, course-based offering, which would help to grow class sizes at the graduate level, and it would bring in

graduate tuition. We would also like to require a set of core classes for these students, which could be taught as short

modules, and could include practical methods courses - which would require a graduate teaching lab.

Areas of emphasis: Environmental Soil Sciences and Management

The merging and refocusing of the undergraduate Environmental Soil Science and Plant Horticulture, and Landscape

Design majors into a single major entitled Sustainable Landscapes and Ecosystems with specialization tracks would

have impacts on graduate students in the soil sciences. Because the new major would have a focus on ecosystems-

scale science this would encourage development or enhancement of coursework focused on environmental systems.

This emphasis would also highlight the ecosystem-sciences research areas of the faculty. Students are aware of the

serious global environmental issues we face; thus, we foresee the undergraduate major driving a shift and an increase

in the quality and size of the pool of graduate students applying to the graduate program, while maintaining our

current strengths in Environmental Soil Sciences and Management. Other developments outside but affiliated with

the department will enhance this perception. Examples include the new university-wide graduate program in Water

Science & Policy; the Delaware Environmental Institute; the Delaware Water Resource Center; and the

Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering building. It is hoped that the new undergraduate major will attract

students to the department and the subsequent addition of TA positions beyond the one position affiliated with the

Introduction to Soil Science course. Lastly, the department will encourage research-active soils and water faculty to

offer their graduate students mentorship experience by hosting the best and brightest undergraduates in research

experiences within their laboratories. Increasingly, employers are looking for the ‘above & beyond’ coursework

experiences that research internships can provide to undergraduates. We believe that such opportunities are a ‘win-

win’ for the undergraduate intern, the graduate student, and the hosting faculty member.

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Staffing Plan

To accomplish our goals in the area of undergraduate curriculum, we will need to:

Support our landscape design and ultimately BLA program via hiring of faculty and instructors to help grow

the program.

TA lines to assist with anticipated larger class sizes.

Teaching lab manager, if we’re going to develop labs for these classes.

Hire a recruiter for department (perhaps a recent graduate; not necessarily full time).

To accomplish our goals in the area of graduate curriculum, we will need to:

Development of the position of a graduate coordinator into a more clearly defined and recognized

administrative, mentoring, and advising position could benefit our research-oriented graduate programs

(plant biology and environmental soil sciences).

To accomplish our goals in the area of growth in research we will need to strengthen and retain our faculty. The

department has significant strengths in both soil chemistry and plant biology. In both cases, these should be

maintained and strengthened with additional hiring in complementary areas. Success in graduate education programs

will also contribute to the attainment of this goal, through improvements to both recruitment and retention of faculty.

In addition, we will need continual enhancements to grant administration, as the importance of administrative staff

cannot be overstated. The submission of proposals and financial/administrative accounting of existing awards can be

challenging, particularly for researchers who are often more focused on their academic questions that are the reason

grants are awards are made. Thus we should hire, train, promote and reward the staff that can facilitate these

processes.

Space Utilization and facility needs


Dramatically improve and modernize our teaching space to provide classrooms and teaching labs for cutting-

edge educational opportunities. In the context of the Genetics and Genomics major, this would require

substantial updates and new equipment, as well as computer labs for bioinformatics work in the classes.

Upgrade teaching facilities (the greenhouse rooms) with modern IT equipment and create better spaces for

learning (problem-based learning environments).


Offices for the expanded graduate student enrollment that we envision.

A graduate teaching lab for methods-based courses in plant molecular biology.

Improved, modernized laboratory space that will put students in different labs in close proximity, and will

include desks in the lab or very close to the labs for graduate students will facilitate their work and help with

recruiting.

In the longer term, we will need to invest to improve and maintain the quality of our greenhouses, and growth

chambers and field spaces to facilitate teaching of plant courses and the research performed by our graduate

students, particularly if we are to strengthen horticulture, soils, and plant biology as we would like.

Workshop facilities - Faculty need access to workshop facilities where faculty and students can fabricate and

assemble instrumentation for field studies. This is a major need for plant, soil and water faculty who have

programs that extend beyond the traditional laboratory. Such space is currently available in the college in our

farmhouse facilities.

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To accomplish our goals to enhance our research productivity, a high priority is improved research facilities. High-

grade research facilities contribute in innumerable ways, including recruitment and retention of faculty, staff and

graduate students, including facilitating high quality research and interactions among researchers, providing safe

working conditions, providing flexibility in research activities as technologies develop and change. Given the poor

state of Worrilow Hall, our department has taken a piecemeal approach of making the best of this low-grade facility,

and seeking better space as it became available (e.g. DBI & ISE, and it was hoped, the Girl Scout Building).

Unfortunately, faculty that remain in Worrilow Hall have research space that is of poor quality, which may affect the

quality of research from these labs. This has and will result in a department that is increasingly fragmented, with

faculty that don’t well understand their colleagues’ research programs, don’t know their lab members, etc. The worst

case scenario is that in their absence, faculty become alienated from the department. The best remedy is to bring

faculty back together, but some are reluctant to give up the interdisciplinary space that they have come to appreciate

(like at DBI). Thus, this should be retained by developing space that reunites PLSC faculty while pulling in colleagues

from other departments and colleges – putting everyone closer together.

Thus we can envision the following steps to improve our research programs:

Consolidation of PLSC faculty laboratories in one, modern, research building to mitigate the increasing

decentralization that has occurred in pursuit of top-tier research space and to accommodate the space

required for new hires in the department, particularly for laboratory space and post-doc/student office space

which is currently not sufficient for existing faculty.

Work together with other departments and colleges to ensure that this is also interdisciplinary space, thus

replicating the strengths of DBI & ISE facilities.

Maintenance and expansion of plant growth facilities. Our growth chambers and greenhouses are adequate at

the moment, but may require expansion depending on the needs and productivity of our faculty.

Workshop facilities - Faculty need access to workshop facilities where faculty and students can fabricate and

assemble instrumentation for field monitoring. This is a major need for soil and water faculty who have

monitoring programs that extend beyond the traditional laboratory. Such space is currently available in the

college in our farmhouse facilities (currently under Bioresources Engineering).



Improve our IT technology for teaching genomics, bioinformatics, and distance learning, including improved

desktop and laptop computers in faculty offices.

Provide incentives for developing and teaching “recruiting courses.”


Vehicles/trucks for field sampling; workshop needs. Many of our research and extension faculty have field

activities where faculty and students have to routinely collect samples from field sites near and far from the

UD campus. While the department has two trucks (one just recently acquired from Bioresources Engineering)

these vehicles are limited and not in the best of conditions. Future resources need to be allocated to

purchase/provide new or used vehicles to faculty.

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Foundational Steps to be taken in 2014

To address our aim of improving our undergraduate curriculum, we have several strategies:

Recruit a larger number of incoming students into our programs.

Make our programs and courses relevant and interesting to a greater number of students.

Promote our majors, career opportunities, and courses to students.

Promote the availability of research or internship opportunities for our best undergraduates.

Promote our students and graduates for industry and government jobs.

Consider online teaching methods for their utility and impact.

Thus, our activities to accomplish our goals in the area of undergraduate curriculum development include:

Select titles for our majors and courses that reflect their content and offer options more attractive options to

incoming students.

Better advertise our majors and course offerings to prospective and current students.

Teach more “recruiting” courses that engage undeclared students or students from other majors in exciting

topics within plant and soil sciences. (i.e. a Farm-to-Table course that includes growing organically, popular

foods, food preparation and presentation; Sustainable Landscaping course that includes rationale for

sustainability and methods for incorporating sustainable concepts such as rain gardens, green roofs,

meadows, reforestation, native plants in residential and public landscapes, etc.)

Evaluate all current courses and eliminate or revamp those that no longer meet our goals.

Provide research, training, and internship opportunities to our students.

Implement an active learning pedagogy in more of our classes.

To address our aim of improving our graduate curriculum, we have several strategies:

Increase participation in interdisciplinary graduate programs.

Expand opportunities for training scientific staff/workforce for industry, non-profit and academia.

Build a graduate component to the proposed Genetics & Genomics program that would include development

of a 4+1 B.A.-M.S. program

Expand teaching opportunities for graduate students, in part via TAing of the Genetics & Genomics courses.

Increase graduate funding through training grants.

Increase graduate enrollment in the Soils program through recruitment from our new undergraduate major.

Thus, our activities to accomplish our goals in the area of graduate curriculum development include:

Identify and/or develop core classes for each of the emphasis areas in our graduate program.

Increase graduate student participation in our own grad-level courses.

We could potentially partner with other institutions, domestically or internationally, to develop these

programs, co-teach courses via remote connections to expand our offerings and having larger groups of

students.

To address our aim of improving our research programs, we have several strategies:

Reunite research-focused faculty and their laboratories in one, modern, research building, while maintaining

the interdisciplinary strengths of DBI & ISE facilities.

Closely integrate extension staff and faculty into research.

Hire in complementary areas to build on existing strengths.

Work with our neighboring institutions to coordinate research, minimize overlap or duplication, and support

common goals.

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Encourage faculty to pursue extramural funding from new and non-traditional sources including

international groups, industry, commodity groups or foundations, private investors, and philanthropic

organizations.

Thus, our activities to accomplish our goals to strengthen and grow our research programs include:

Support and strengthen research programs of current faculty to retain the excellent research programs that

are expensive and difficult to build.

Strategic hiring to complement existing strengths in plant biology, plant-microbe interactions, environmental

soil science, soil chemistry, and water science.

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MASTER PLAN: NEWARK FARM

SUPPORT UNIT

XIV. NEWARK FARM

Mission

To provide the services necessary to be successful in the areas of Teaching, Research and Extension/Outreach. Provide

a forward thought process to enable the Newark Farm the ability to remain pertinent in the three mission areas.

Institute a whole Farm ecosystem that all three areas listed above can benefit from, working together to remain

successful as an Institution and for the greater good of the nearby community.

Services provided

The Newark Farm provides many services applicable towards the three mission areas.

Teaching:

1) Diversified land base indicated by departmental curriculum.

2) Facilities and animals for required curriculum.

3) Equipment for hands on instruction.

4) Instruction for classes provided by Professional and Salaried Staff.

Limitations of services for teaching are labor, professional expertise and spatial needs

Research:

1) Typically all aspects and means to carry out on-farm projects in the form of land, equipment, labor, and

technical guidance.

2) Allocation of materials and equipment when needed and possible

Limitations are precision equipment (various generations thereof), irrigation, and spatial

Extension/Outreach:

1) Equipment, facilities and land base

2) Some professional expertise as it pertains to subject matter

Limitations include precision equipment for planting plots, irrigation, land base for long term projects,

and continued labor for large scale/long term projects.

Budgetary Needs

1) The Farm’s operating budget has varied year to year depending on emergency needs and possible

equipment upgrades. This is different than the proposed system of a fixed annual budget that includes

funding for emergencies and upgrades.

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2) Many aspects seem to be a grey area as to the Farm’s responsibility to budget for items and services;

hopefully these can become more clear. The College needs to develop a policy regarding what unfunded

activities should be absorbed into the farm budget.

3) A cost center could be used to recoup expenses that do not fall within the defined farm budget.

Staffing Plan

1) Consideration to Farm staffing will depend primarily upon the direction the College will take in the next 5

years

2) Wholesale changes could reflect the attitude and new path the College may take, and therefore a

restructuring would be needed and maybe a shifting of positions towards other areas

3) Reduction in Farm staff via unfilled positions are having a detrimental effect on morale and productivity

4) Areas that Farm staff are relied on that may not fit squarely within a person’s job description or scope

would need to be addressed.

Outsourcing and Collaboration

1) Areas for outsourcing and collaboration for the Farm are somewhat limited but possible

2) Outsourcing certain management aspects seem to be cost prohibitive but, if kept within the scope of our

land base, could be acceptable

3) Outsourcing of specialized facets would be helpful when equipment and knowledge base is limited

4) Collaboration would be valuable with outside institutions and agencies to complete either common goals

or accept specialized guidance

5) Utilization of other institutions in collaborative efforts would need to be reciprocal in nature or come at a

cost


1) Departmental desires and plans evaluated to determine steps necessary for success

2) Farm model for future discussed and determined if possible within the scope of departmental needs

3) Steps initiated to start whole farm plan and meshing of departmental philosophies

4) Staffing changes or restructuring to carry out long term Farm plan

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XV. FISCHER GREENHOUSE AND GROWTH CHAMBER COMPLEX

Mission

The Fischer Greenhouse Complex and Growth Chamber Facility provide the primary greenhouse space available to

faculty, professionals, staff and students. The professionally managed facilities are dedicated to the acquisition and

dissemination of knowledge thru research, teaching and outreach activities, extension demonstrations, departmental

functions and sponsored student organizations.

Services provided

a) Greenhouses

All plant material within the greenhouse is maintained by greenhouse staff unless instructed not to by users of the

bench space.

Maintenance of greenhouse plant material consists of daily watering, weekly fertilization with 21-5-20 fertilizer at

200 ppm N, and application of insecticides if an infestation is detected. Persons who have plant material within a

greenhouse can request that fertilizer and/or insecticides not be used.

The greenhouse manager and supervisor routinely scout greenhouse space in an effort to identify the presence of

insect activity in an effort to keep the level of infestation to a minimum. If an infestation is detected appropriate

chemicals are applied to only the infested material rather than “blanket spray” everything in the greenhouse. This

technique is used in an attempt to lower the amount of chemicals introduced into the environment as well as lessen

exposure to the applicator as well as all persons using greenhouse space.

Whenever possible the use of biological insecticide is used in an attempt to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals

introduced into the environment.

Greenhouse bench space is provided for growing plant material that is related to educational and research projects

being conducted under the supervision of a faculty member or by a sponsored student organization.

Location of assigned bench space is determined both by the environmental conditions required for the crop or the

type of plant material being grown.

Specific zones within the greenhouses are reserved for growth of transgenic plant material, as required by law, and for

plant material inoculated with pathogens.

Greenhouse staff will assist users of the facility with proper disposal of plant material when no longer needed. Any

biohazards are properly boxed for pick up by Occupational Health and Safety Department.

Growth medium and containers and miscellaneous supplies are provided for all users of the greenhouses regardless if

the plants being grown are for teaching, research or outreach purposes. Funding for all greenhouse materials comes

directly from CANR.

b) Growth chambers

The Fischer Growth Chamber Facility is primarily used for research purposes. U of D faculty, students, graduate

students and researchers from DBI make up the users of the facility.

All plant material within the growth chamber complex is maintained by the researchers in charge of the project.

Greenhouse staff is not responsible for maintaining research plant material within a growth chamber in any way.

Replacement light bulbs and ballasts, as well as routine maintenance of air and water lines within each chamber are

conducted by greenhouse staff.

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Greenhouse staff will assist users of the growth chambers with setting the environmental conditions within each

chamber.

Greenhouse staff will monitor all growth chambers on a daily basis to ensure each unit is operating at the set

conditions, and make any adjustment necessary to bring conditions back to the required range if necessary.

Greenhouse staff will assist users of the facility with proper disposal of plant material at the conclusion of a project.

Budgetary Needs

Currently the operating budget for the greenhouse and growth chamber facility complex is funded solely by CANR.

Supplies used from greenhouse inventory are used for both teaching, research and outreach needs. As all departments

within CANR utilize the greenhouse facility to some extent it was determined in 2010 that the cost of materials used in

the growth facility complex on a routine basis be funded by CANR rather than try to divide the costs between each

department.

Future consideration should be given to the possibility of charging researchers for supplies used from greenhouse

inventory. Currently all supplies taken from greenhouse inventory for use at the DBI facility are charged back to the

individual lab that used the supplies on a quarterly basis. This policy could be put into effect for researchers working

within the Fischer complex that use supplies from greenhouse inventory.

Supplies used for teaching and educational purposes are more easily accurately budgeted for as they occur on a

regular basis dependant on the number of courses offered during a semester. Supplies used for research purposes

vary greatly over the course of a year and as a result are difficult to accurately budget for. Consideration for

greenhouse supplies needed for a project (growth medium, containers) could be added into the total funding needs

when a research project is in the planning phase. Greenhouse supplies used by researchers can be tracked by the

greenhouse manager and then charged to a purpose code to reimburse CANR for the cost of the actual materials used.

The tracking of supplies might be a tedious task but it would insure that expenses remain within budgeted levels.

Supplies used for educational purposes should continue to be funded by CANR as they are used by students paying

tuition for the privilege to enroll in courses that require use of the greenhouse and related supplies.

Staffing Plan

Current greenhouse staff consists of the Growth Facilities Manager, the Greenhouse Supervisor, and one part time

miscellaneous wage employee. Weekend watering is covered by two students that alternate weekends. If there is a

conflict with students covering a weekend the Growth Facilities Manager or the Greenhouse Supervisor cover the

watering responsibilities for that weekend.

The current amount of staff is sufficient, and should remain sufficient, to operate the existing greenhouses into the

future. If the current greenhouse facilities are expanded the possibility of adding an additional miscellaneous wage

employee should be considered.


Our current greenhouse facilities are sufficient to handle the current space demands for educational and research

purposes. Space demand reaches 100% during the months of February, March, April, and May. Occupancy is close to

60% the remaining months of the year. The possibility of developing courses or outreach programs that would involve

use of greenhouse space during current periods of under usage could be considered in an attempt to get maximum

usage of the greenhouse facility year round.


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a) Greenhouses

In an attempt to keep all environmental systems in working order we currently maintain an ongoing three year plan

to budget for potential capital improvements and repairs to the greenhouse complex. Input from the Greenhouse

Advisory Committee, made up of a faculty member from each of the departments within CANR, is used to determine

any potential future needs or changes they would like to see happen within the greenhouse. By continuing to involve

all possible users of the greenhouse facilities in planning decisions helps to assure the future needs for all

departments within CANR are taken into consideration. Time periods longer than 3 years can be considered for large

scale budgeting purposes.

Currently repair or replacement of all existing fans, motors, valves, lights, pumps and other mechanical systems is

completed by U of D union shops at no additional cost to CANR. If this policy were to change at any time in the future

additional budgeting for such repairs will need to be considered.

The Priva greenhouse environmental computer that operates all the mechanical systems within Fischer greenhouse

was recently upgraded in 2013. This upgrade was necessary as the previous operating system was 13 years old,

becoming unreliable and obsolete. This upgrade will enable Fischer greenhouse to operate efficiently far into the

future. The new system will be monitored daily to ensure all systems are adjusting properly to the new operating

software. This recent upgrade in 2013 eliminates the need for any capital improvements in 2014 as far as the

greenhouse facilities are concerned.

The South greenhouses were completely refurbished in 2007, with all new modern environmental control systems. All

systems will continue to be monitored daily in an attempt to keep everything operating at peak efficiency.

Greenhouse staff will continue to do annual preventative cleaning and lubrication of all greenhouse mechanical

systems (vents, vent motors, shade cloth motors, pad wall pads) in an effort to reduce the potential for unexpected

costs as a result of mechanical breakdown of environmental control systems.

Currently all landscaping and teaching equipment used jointly by greenhouse and UDBG staff is stored within two 12”

X 24” sheds. Both sheds have leaking roofs and wood rot issues that need to be addressed. The roof of one of the

sheds was covered in plastic in 2011 as a temporary fix to slow deterioration of the structure. To allow for future

expansion of storage needs replacement of the two existing sheds with one larger pole barn structure could be

considered. Putting up one larger structure cans actually be more cost effective than replacing both sheds with new

ones the same size.

b) Growth chambers

The cost of maintaining all growth chambers in proper working order and supplying replacement light bulbs and

ballasts currently comes out of the operating budget of the greenhouse and growth chamber facility. Routine

maintenance of the chambers is conducted by greenhouse staff whenever possible. Occasionally professional help is

called upon if the issue is of a particular technical variety. The possibility of purchasing a maintenance plan from an

outside contractor, such as Namco Cascade Inc., that would cover annual maintenance and any necessary replacement

parts could be considered. We currently have opted not to have a maintenance plan due to the high cost involved.

Spreading the cost of a maintenance plan amongst the users of the growth chamber facility could be a possible

consideration to make such a plan more cost effective. Users of growth chambers that are most concerned about

possible down time if a unit requires a replacement part are most likely to support this idea.

To avoid potential scheduling conflicts with growth chamber users we need to develop a system by which individual

researchers can view the upcoming research projects of other labs in order to better schedule use of the limited

amount of growth chamber space. A web site could be developed by U of D IT for such a purpose.

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The particular experiment or plant material being grown in a chamber can determine if several researchers can share

a chamber or if they require their own unit. This sometimes results in a chamber being only partially occupied for the

duration of an experiment. Future emphasis should be on sharing space whenever possible in order to use existing

growth chamber space efficiently.

Generally all 9 of the growth chamber units in Fischer are occupied with research projects and there are several

potential users waiting a turn for space. Our facility has space and existing infrastructure to accommodate another

growth chamber unit. Consideration should be given to the possibility of adding another unit to handle any future

increase in demand for growth chamber space.

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XVI. ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND STUDENT SERVICES

Mission

The Office of Academic Programs and Student Services Office manages the effective delivery of all undergraduate

recruitment and academic advising functions and student support services in the College of Agriculture and Natural

Resources.

Services provided

1) Academic Advisement and Support Coordinate and support academic advisement to all new and current students Maintain students’ academic records; manage degree progress; certify graduates Interpret and administer UD academic policy to students, faculty, advisors, and staff Advise students in the ANR interdisciplinary major (Approximately 80-100 students per year) Meet students experiencing academic difficulty Monitor students involved in personal/family crisis, verify documentation, notify instructors of absence

from class Approve course substitutions and waivers to academic program requirements, authorize change of

grades, major and other requests Make student referrals and encourage participation in on-campus resources Assist students in ways to ensure their personal and academic success Respond and resolve undergraduate student and parental concerns and complaints Monitor internal applications, admissions, course scheduling Make recommendations for changes in academic policy Assist and consult with CANR Courses and Curriculum Committee Evaluate and approve CANR readmission applications Work daily with students and faculty through in-person, telephone, and written and electronic

correspondence Dean’s List, probation, dismissals, and retention mailings

2) College Promotion and Undergraduate Recruitment

Coordinate all undergraduate recruitment activities including over 100 customized prospective student visits per year, Exploration Days, mailings, emails, and calls to prospective and admitted students

Revise all recruitment brochures and handouts, Admissions Curriculum Guides. Oversee and direct the Ag Ambassador Program Manage the undergraduate prospective and current student portion of the CANR website Maintain the Talk of Townsend”, our online undergraduate student blog Assist with the development of “major” videos and student noteworthy news articles

3) Special Event/Program Management CANR Convocation CANR New Student Orientation The ANR major which is CANR’s interdisciplinary major CANR “U-Can-Do-It” program for students on academic probation

Services not provided

Graduate Student Support: Although we currently make revisions to the graduate portions of the catalog, we are responsible for serving the undergraduate student population only. Since graduate students have the same academic and personal needs as undergraduate students and there isn’t an “Academic Programs” type office in the college, we recommend adding a graduate services coordinator position. Most graduate faculty coordinators are NOT comfortable providing these services or referrals.

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Budgetary needs

CANR Communications to produce new website, publications, and social media campaigns for unit to use

with prospective and current students.

CANR Communications and Facilities staff to make improvements to common areas, TNS lobby,

messaging on bulletin boards, etc.

Staffing plan

Increase staff by at least two professional members in the next 1-2 years. Growth of staff should correlate with

planned growth (15% increase by 2015) of the student body and student services offered. With two additional staff

members, the current Academic Programs and Student Services Office would be in a much better place to deliver

proactive versus reactive advisement and support.

Internships & Career Counseling - One of the things that prospective and current students ask about

most often is how our college supports and connects students to internships and career

opportunities. These proposed new positions would work closely with our academic departments

and UD's Career Services Center, promoting internships, seeking, finding, and creating new

opportunities for students, meeting and building relationships with employers, and assisting outside

companies in building internship opportunities for our students. Essentially, these positions would

be responsible for doing whatever it took to make it easier for our students to get connected and to

get a head start on the internship and career-seeking process which is important in working with

today’s college student.

Assessment of our Advisement and Academic Services - One of the ways to know if we are doing well

in the eyes of our students is to assess them on a regular basis to ensure that we as a college are

providing the academic and advising services that we've promised and that students have come to

expect. These proposed new positions could be responsible for developing a Student Satisfaction

Exit Survey in addition to other surveys during the academic year and would benefit our office and

college in learning what we're doing right and where we need to improve (i.e. advisement models we

practice, support we provide, advisor training that we offer, etc.).

Retention – Responsible for initiating and developing ways to retain our students (including

traditional, transfer, and international) especially our first-year student population who are most

vulnerable and have the most challenging time making connections (i.e. welcome postcard, routine

majors meetings, birthday cards, study nights, study skills and time management workshops).

Advisement - With an increase in our ANR major population and potentially the addition of all

Agricultural Education advising for the college in the not so distant future, dividing this group of

advisees among 2-3 staff members instead of just 1 would benefit the students and provide them

with more support and personal attention. In addition, UD’s International numbers are continuing to

increase and for those students coming through special CANR and UD articulation agreements,

having an individual to work with this special population is essential to their success. These staff

members can also initiate work with recruiting transfer students and advise other majors in the

college if we were to move towards the hybrid advising model mentioned in this report.

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Ag Day – This event does not have anything to do with the mission of this unit and will be outsourced.

South Campus Classroom Scheduling- Recommend Registrar’s Office in collaboration with a support staff

member in each department oversee this process.

Scholarship Coordination – Process would benefit from collaboration with CANR Development Director,

CANR Financial Manager, and departmental designees.

Catalog Revisions – Currently all revisions from all CANR units are submitted and coded. Departmental

support staff can be training to revise their departmental sections.


A. Office In General

Name Change - Change to “Office of Undergraduate Student Services” or “Office of Undergraduate

Student Support Services” to reflect true mission of unit.

In less than 1 year, become more proactive versus reactive advising office by providing more

programming for current students.

In less than 10 years, serve as an institutional, regional, and national model for recruitment,

advisement, and the retention of students by becoming active leaders in our national advising

organization. (NACADA)

B. Undergraduate Recruitment

Revise current recruitment timeline - to better utilize resources and possible overlapping of efforts

with the CANR Communications staff, and Admissions.

Faculty Involvement – Discuss with departments, ways to promote increased and improved

participation and have faculty take more ownership over the recruitment process. How can we get

away from the, “someone else is taking care of that“ attitude?

Departments must provide value propositions - Each major should have at least 3 value propositions

for unit to use with messaging to prospective students.

Facilities - College commitment to provide a more welcoming atmosphere for families entering CANR

facilities. In addition, it would benefit us by having more space for prospective families to meet

faculty and current students that is separate from the advising office for current students (i.e. waiting

room, presentation room)

Vehicle for CANR Tours - Vehicle for Ag Ambassadors to use for tours rather than using visiting family

vehicles.

C. Academic Advising

New Advisement Model - Investigate instituting a hybrid academic advising model whereby students

would be advised by professional advisors in their FR and SO years and faculty mentors in their JR

and SR years.

Develop assessment process for future advising practices

Establish advising awards for faculty and staff around the college to promote and reward good

advising practices

Develop automated graduation clearance process so that more focus can be placed on advising

Develop additional non-traditional advising modes of communication to students (i.e. YouTube

Advising Videos, Student blogs)

Revise ANR interdisciplinary major to make more academically rigorous and to have a more focused

theme (i.e. sustainability; agricultural communication)

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D. Student Retention and Success

Investigate Career Services liaison having office hours in TNS Hall

Coordinate satellite tutoring services by Academic Enrichment Center offered in TNS

Establish more intrusive advising and programming by intensively following-up with students

Assess the current U-Can-Do-It program for students on academic probation

Establish Big Brother/Big Sister type program where seniors are paired with new students to

provide transitional support.

E. Technology

Work with CANR IT to develop or support an online appointment management system for

prospective and current students for scheduling visits and advising appointments AND a client

relationship management system to track interactions and automate responses with prospective

students.

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XVII. COMMUNICATIONS

Communications Mission:

All communication efforts are directed to the primary target audiences of the University of Delaware’s

College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, in order to increase enrollment and create, strengthen

and/or retain constituent support. Communication efforts are equally dedicated to conveying the

institution’s impact on the community, state, nation, and world to external and internal publics.

CANR Vision Statement:

The College of Agriculture & Natural Resources envisions itself as an exceptional contributor to solving

the grand challenge of feeding the world while protecting the earth’s natural resources.

Resources:

CANR’s Communications Office provides support services for faculty, staff, students and partners of

the College through the work of a web developer, feature writer, part-time photographer, off-site/part-

time graphic designer, and a communications manager. The support services provided by the team

include: website design and maintenance, social media coordination and support, professional feature

writing for UDaily, special event planning/organization and support, photography and videography,

product development, and special projects coordination.

The size and scope of the office has not kept pace with the demands of a College that continues to grow

its enrollment and aspires to increase its regional and national profile. The overall goals of the Master

Plan necessitate a communications structure that is strategic and proactive in its ability to enhance the

College’s visibility, strengthen relationships with College constituents, position the College

competitively, and reinforce the University’s brand through the College’s image. The office should then

serve its CANR client base by pro-actively developing and managing strategic public relations, media

relations, integrated marketing (including online tactics), and publication efforts.

An increase in the professional expertise of the team and the expansion of professional labor is needed

to effectively meet communication objectives, reach existing and expanding target audiences, and

provide a more efficient structure to deliver communication services. A proposed split with CANR’s IT

helpdesk arm would provide an opportunity to establish a more focused communications office; web

development would be retained within the Communications Office.

The following professional additions would strengthen the effectiveness of CANR’s communication

activities, enhance the office’s skill sets and ensure that the College’s core messages are consistently

being imparted on external and internal fronts:

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Special Events Coordinator/Administrative Assistant (Full-Time for 2014) to plan and

implement major CANR events that draw increasingly large audiences (i.e., Ag Day, Evening in

the Garden, Worrilow Award Ceremony, legislative-related events, etc.), as well as provide

administrative support to the Communications Office. [Possible cost-share opportunity

w/Cooperative Extension, which the director is in agreement with.]

Publications Specialist (Full-Time for 2014) to assist in writing marketing copy for brochures,

recruitment materials, proposed new electronic newsletter, proposed new annual report; assist in

editing all copy before/after design; work with part-time graphic designer and University

Printing; coordinate production schedules; and work with vendors for marketing products.

Cooperative Extension Communications Liaison (Part-Time for 2015) to assist in working with

designated Cooperative Extension contacts to identify regular opportunities for visibility, and

identify and implement new opportunities for incorporating social media into communication

efforts.

The Office of Communications Marketing (OCM), the University’s main communications organ, has

recently undergone a reorganization that is designed to be more strategic and goal-oriented, as opposed

to reactive and responsive to disparate requests across campus. With an emphasis on proactive planning

and a focus on external communications that will position UD as a world-class research institution,

OCM will now rely on college communicators housed at the seven colleges to funnel all requests made

to its main office. In addition, OCM has activated the communication managers at the various colleges

as press officers who will engage in selective media pitching in order to help secure broader news

coverage; press officers will be able to pitch news stories to select reporters in consultation and

collaboration with OCM.

A strengthened CANR communications unit can help OCM expand public awareness of the University

by promoting messages that, at the same time, advance the goals outlined in the College’s Master Plan.

A strategic communications action plan follows that has been themed according to needs identified in

the Master Plan that relate to visibility, recruitment, advocacy, and relationships.

CANR Communications Office Action Plan

Strategic Initiative I – Visibility

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CANR’s Communications Office will develop a communications program to raise local, regional and

national awareness of CANR’s strengths in cutting-edge research, compelling work of faculty and

Cooperative Extension, as well as exceptional efforts of students to help solve the world’s challenge of

sustaining agriculture and natural resources into the future.

Goal One: Create a system for regularly securing news story ideas about CANR faculty, research and

students; faculty experts on current national trends/issues; topics for social media campaigns; and

marketing initiatives.

Action Items Timeline Anticipated

Outcomes

Lead

Establish a CANR Communications

Committee, chaired by the

communications manager and

comprised of representatives from each

of the four academic departments,

Undergraduate Services, and

Cooperative Extension, to discuss on a

monthly basis regular news story ideas,

trend/research topics (i.e., STEM

projects for K-12), world events tied to

specific CANR faculty expert analysis,

social media campaigns, value

propositions from each department, and

CANR marketing initiatives. Each

month, the committee will also review

topics scheduled for faculty workshops

and presentations. It will also discuss

ways to convey compelling research in

layman’s terms that create

relevance/immediate significance for

general publics.

2014 Increase

local,

regional

and national

print and

electronic

feature

stories

Communications

Manager

Strategic Initiative – Visibility continued

Goal Two: Actively pitch the local, regional and national print/electronic news media with an array of

targeted stories, leads and visual resources to increase positive coverage of CANR.

89


Outcomes

Lead

Collaborate with OCM to secure

strategic news coverage:

Submit 1 national story idea

each quarter to OCM that it can

pitch nationally (March, June,

September & December)

Pitch 1 story per month to trade

journals and inform OCM of the

nature of the pitch at the end of

every month

Identify 3 underutilized faculty

experts who are working on

current/timely research or have

expertise in a current trend topic.

Arrange media training w/OCM

for possible media usage.

Secure opportunities for experts

to be quoted.

Look for 3+1 stories = energy,

environment & health

2014 - Increase

local,

regional

and national

print and

electronic

features

Communications

Manager &

Communications

Specialist

Build strong, professional relationships

with regional media. OCM to arrange

personal visits with reporters to

introduce CANR communications

manager to features reporter at The

Newark Journal, and reporters at

WDDE-FM (NPR affiliate in Dover) &

WBOC-TV 16

2014 - CANR

faculty &

Extension

staff are

positioned

as viable

expert

sources for

the media.

Communications

Manager


Goal Two continued

90


Outcomes

Lead

Work with OCM to help organize a

Southern Delaware media tour for

President Harker & Dean Rieger

Spring 2014 UD is

positioned

as a

university

leader in

agriculture

& natural

resources

Communications

Manager

Goal Three: Utilize news service mechanisms to increase local, regional and national coverage


Outcomes

Lead

Utilize tools designed to monitor

journalists who are searching for expert

sources (i.e., mymediainfo.com,

MeltWater, etc.)

2014 - CANR

faculty &

Cooperative

Extension

staff are

positioned

as viable

expert

sources for

the media.

Communications

Manager


Goal Four: Implement proactive strategies to promote CANR at all times

91


Outcomes

Lead

Be ahead of the story by staying abreast

of critical issues and subsequent

developments that may be of interest to

key reporters. Ensure a clear line of

communication with OCM and

disseminate facts quickly.

2014 - Messaging

is on-point

Communications

Manager

Write talking points for consistency of

message for administrators.

2014- Messaging

is on-point

Communications

Manager


92

Goal Five: Utilize comprehensive online tactics to promote and market CANR in a way that elevates the

College’s academic reputation; promotes its distinctive qualities, including Cooperative Extension; and

highlights the quality of faculty, Extension staff, research, academic programs, and undergraduate &

graduate students.


Outcomes

Lead

Create a new CANR website, complete

with a new domain/new web server, that

engages prospective students, is easy to

navigate, ranks better on search engines,

provides information about faculty and

research, gives information about jobs

to students, provides a redesigned

template for departmental webpages,

etc. Designated categories: Future

Students, Current Students, Alumni,

Faculty & Staff, Extension, Research,

Give Back, UDairy Creamery, News,

Events, & Get Social

Schedule and rotate primary photos on a

two-week cycle

Establish web links to and from local

information sources:

High School Web Sites

Pertinent Agriculture/Natural

Resource Web Sites in DE

Train four (4) designated department

web content managers to update

department content regularly

January/

early

February

2014

2014 -

March &

April 2014

February –

March 2014

Attracts

prospective

students;

easier to

navigate;

increases

traffic &

ranks better

on search

engines

Audiences

remain

engaged

Maintain

connection

to important

sites

Department

pages are

up-to-date

and

consistent

Web Developer

Web Developer

& Photographer

Web Developer

Web Developer


Goal V continued

93


Outcomes

Lead

Establish a faculty/staff social media

task force that will:

Develop a strategic social media

plan/calendar for CANR &

Extension

Develop best practice guidelines

for social media use & online

sharing; promote w/faculty and

staff

Expand expertise by training

staff in the use of key social

media platforms

2014 Connect

with

existing and

new target

audiences

Communications

Team, including

Extension

Communications

Specialist

eXtension Fellow

Michele Walfred

via grant

Establish designated Cooperative

Extension communication contacts in

Lawn & Garden, Family & Consumer

Sciences, Agriculture & Natural

Resources, and 4-H Youth

Development. Communication contacts

will be trained to help develop

web/social media content on a monthly

basis, and then push out

content/messaging.

2014 Increase

visibility of

Cooperative

Extension

content

Web Developer

& Extension

Communications

Specialist

Target social-media savvy faculty to

encourage their students to engage in

CANR posts and social media

campaigns by offering extra credit

2014 Engage

CANR

students &

encourage

others to

“come over

the bridge”

Communications

Team, including

Extension

Communications

Specialist


Goal V continued

94


Outcomes

Lead

Collaborate with OCM on purchasing

an account with Hootsuite Enterprise

that will enable all of CANR’s social

media accounts to be linked & accessed

from one location.

2014 Efficiency

will be

achieved by

being able

to use one

platform to

maintain,

analyze and

push

content.

Web Developer

& Extension

Communications

Specialist

Utilize Storify to collect media from

across the web on a particular

event/topic and tell its entire story via

the most relevant social media posts.

April 2014 Efficiency

will be

achieved by

allowing

the user to

track all

aspects of a

story in one

location.

Web Developer

& Extension

Communications

Specialist

Implement Phase II of the website

redesign (cosmetic only): Cooperative

Extension. Designated categories: Kent

County, New Castle County, Sussex

County & Carvel Research Center

June –

August

2014

A web

presence is

created that

is married

to CANR’s

web design/

encourages

social

media

engagement

Web Developer

& Extension

Communications

Specialist

Strategic Initiative II – Recruitment

95

Goal One: Develop primary print and electronic recruitment materials to support outreach efforts,

target prospective student audiences, and help increase enrollment & retention.


Outcomes

Lead

Feature 2-minute videos on the web of

CANR classes in action, faculty and

students working on visually-

stimulating research projects, STEM

initiatives, dynamic events, etc.

Schedule a series of 4 videos each

semester.

April 2014 Prospective

students see

CANR as

an exciting

place to be

Communications

Team

Produce an engaging undergraduate

viewbook that targets prospective

students and their parents.

Create an online version, which

features digital page-turning,

following print production.

Create a corresponding poster

for guidance counselors’ offices.

End of

July/Early

August

2014

Prospective

under-

graduate

students

envision

themselves

at CANR &

apply. Book

demystifies

“Ag”

stereotype.

Communications

Manager &

Communications

Specialist

Produce an engaging graduate

viewbook that targets prospective

graduate students and highlights

research work performed at CANR.

Create an online version, which

features digital page-turning,

following print production.

End of

July/Early

August

2015

Prospective

graduate

students see

the

compelling

research

work

performed

& apply.

*Publications

Specialist &

Communications

Manager

Strategic Initiative II - Recruitment continued

Goal one continued

96


Outcomes

Lead

Produce departmental e-newsletter

templates that are in sync with CANR’s

website and UD brand identities, so

departments can write and distribute

quick updates in their areas once each

year to prospective undergraduate

students. Departments would write the

content and the Communications Office

would provide final edits. Departments

would also distribute the e-newsletter.

Distribution

will be

determined

by the best

time in the

recruitment

cycle

Prospective

undergrad

students see

the

compelling

work being

done by

CANR

faculty &

students.

*Publications

Specialist & Web

Developer

Redesign and update content for

existing two-sided program fliers for

recruitment visits. Ensure design is in

sync with CANR’s website and UD

brand identities.

January

2015

Detailed

program

information

is provided

*Publications

Specialist &

Part-Time

Graphic Designer

Design two (2) Cooperative Extension

templates, in keeping with the new

marketing materials, for the recruitment

of program participants and master

volunteers (electronic & hard copy)

January

2015

Detailed

program

information

is provided

*Publications

Specialist &

Part-Time

Graphic Designer

Strategic Initiative III – Advocacy

97

CANR will effectively articulate the College’s connection to the needs of Delaware and its citizens. The

College will educate the public about CANR students served and generate a steady stream of general

visibility to set the social, political and economic climate that will support policy reform.

Goal One: Increase legislators’ awareness of the need to support CANR


Outcomes

Lead

Establish an annual legislative breakfast

for elected officials prior to the General

Assembly where the dean presents the

state of CANR & its needs; two students

discuss how CANR has impacted their

lives significantly; and a recipient of

Extension services discusses the value

of the services received. Theme the

breakfast and remarks each year around

an identified CANR need (i.e., secure

renovation of Worrilow Hall). Invite

students, faculty, key administrators &

alumni to sit at breakfast tables with

legislators and engage them w/ their

individual stories.

2015 Legislators

connect

with

constituents

& learn

more about

CANR’s

critical

needs

Communications

Manager

Schedule a special Legislative CANR

day where a group of students visit the

offices of key elected officials to discuss

the value of their CANR experiences

and the need for continued support.

2015 - Voting

constituents

persuade

legislators

to support

CANR

Communications

Manager &

Government

Relations

The dean will meet one-on-one with key

legislators in August/September to

discuss CANR trends for the year,

where newly enrolled CANR students

are coming from, Extension highlights,

and provide an update on CANR as well

as where support will be needed.

2014 - Legislators’

awareness

about the

needs of

UD/CANR

are

increased

Communications

Manager &

Government

Relations

Strategic Initiative III – Advocacy continued

Goal Two: Engage Legislators on a Regular Basis

98


Outcomes

Lead

Create a consistent flow of information

promoting key events/great news by

Tweeting, posting on FaceBook,

e-mailing links to any major media

placements, etc.

2014 - Legislators

become

more

connected to

CANR

Communications

Manager

Upon their graduation, identified CANR

alumni write their respective legislators

about their experiences, jobs that have

resulted, and advocate for the continued

financial support of CANR.

2014 Voting

constituents

persuade

legislators

to support

CANR’s

need for

funding

Communications

Manager &

Director of

Development/

Alumni

Invite legislators regularly to key events

where they will have visibility with their

constituents (i.e., Ag Day, Evening in the

Garden, Extension Offices/Field Days,

Research Trials, etc.)

2014 Legislators

become

more

connected to

CANR

Communications

Manager &

Dean’s Office

Strategic Initiative IV – Relationships

99

CANR will strengthen its relationships with constituents in the Delaware community and develop more

strategic relationships across sectors to enhance the College’s image.

Goal One: Engage and inform key constituents regularly about the dynamic work performed at CANR;

target advisory board members, alumni, prospective donors, critical members of the agricultural and

natural resource community in Southern Delaware, existing & future business partners, elected officials,

etc.


Outcomes

Lead

Repackage select UDaily features on the

compelling work of faculty, students

and Extension staff, & produce a brief

e-newsletter to email to primary groups

of stakeholders three times each year. In

addition to 4 or 5 feature stories, the e-

newsletter would feature a short letter

from the dean and lots of photos.

2015-

September

February

June

Stake-

holders feel

connected

to CANR

and are

apprised of

important

occurrences

on a regular

basis.

Communications

Manager &

*Publications

Specialist

Produce a themed annual report that

includes a message from the dean,

highlights the year, features financials,

highlights a report of gifts, details

progress on the journey of the Master

Plan, etc.

January

2014

Stake-

holders are

assured of

the

direction of

the College

& feel

vested

*Publications

Specialist

Strategic Initiative IV – Relationships continued

100

Goal Two: Utilize major events to strengthen connection to constituents


Outcomes

Lead

Capitalize on events by inviting and

courting targeted groups of

stakeholders:

AG Day --- Invite UD Board of

Trustees & CANR Advisory

board members to lunch on the

grounds.

Evening in the Garden --- Invite

prospective donors, alumni &

parents of Ag Ambassadors.

Worrilow Award Ceremony ---

Invite members of the business

community who may have

immediate ties to the award

winners.

Lasher Lab Renovation Ribbon

Cutting Ceremony --- Invite

elected officials, donors &

prospective donors, members of

the business community, key

alumni & parents

2014

activity

dates

Strengthen

existing

relation-

ships

Administrative

support

designated for

each event

Strategic Initiative IV – Relationships continued

101

Goal Three: Engage local business and community groups


Outcomes

Lead

Secure invitations for the dean to speak

with local ag and business groups about

the work being done at CANR, and

CANR’s commitment to the Delaware

community. Make sure the important

work of Cooperative Extension is

conveyed.

2014- Increase

presence in

the local

community

& establish

new

partnerships

Communications

Manager

Conclusion

The proposed strategic communications plan is designed to help increase the overall awareness of the

College on regional and national levels, as well as to aid its increase in enrollment and create, strengthen

and/or retain constituent support. The plan’s suggested communication efforts highlight CANR’s

distinctive qualities, particularly the compelling research that is conducted by seasoned faculty, as well

as its overall goal to be an exceptional contributor to solving the grand challenge of feeding the world

while protecting the earth’s natural resources.

To effectively communicate and market CANR to a variety of target audiences, the Communications

Office, in concert with OCM, must use a variety of strategies and consistent messaging. As mentioned

previously, the overall goals of the Master Plan necessitate a communications structure that is strategic

and proactive in its ability to enhance the College’s visibility, strengthen relationships with College

constituents, position the College competitively, and reinforce the University’s brand through the

College’s image. The professional addition of a special events coordinator/administrative assistant,

publications specialist, and Cooperative Extension communications liaison would strengthen the

effectiveness of CANR’s communication activities, enhance the office’s skill sets and ensure that the

College’s core messages are consistently being imparted on external and internal fronts.

The Communications Office is aligned fully with CANR’s Master Plan and the members of its team are

enthusiastic about future possibilities.

102

Appendix 1; Items from programmatic units

The items below are specifically pulled from the draft Programmatic Unit Plans (Departments and Cooperative

Extension). Some units specifically mention communications items, while others simply infer it. It will be important in

the finalization of the master plan to put some more concrete text around the needs of the programmatic units.

ANIMAL AND FOOD SCIENCES

Communications is inferred throughout the plan, with no specific items or mention.

APPLIED ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS

Communications and Information Technology (combined)

Students’ first impression of an academic department is determined by their view of the website. It is crucial

to have a current and informative website for recruitment and dissemination of important information.

Most notably we are lacking in technical assistance for web development and maintenance, computers,

software, and support for research. We have been doing the best possible with what is currently provided by

the college.





assistance we need.





COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

Goal: Enhanced Educational delivery through facilities and distance technology enhancements. Maintaining

sustainability of extension also requires preparing for the next generation of learners and their desired methods of

learning. A hybrid of distance technologies involving synchronous and asynchronous methods along with traditional

face-to-face methods is needed. (Support Units-IT and Communications)

Recommendations Short Term:

Continue development of eXtension resources including Ask and Expert (roll out July 2013) and online course

content.

Continued development of web capacity for marketing and content.

Goal: Communications Enhancements. Cooperative Extension is heavily dependent upon the communications

unit and IT for assistance in the development, marketing and delivery of education programs as well as for the

informing multiple forms of stakeholders about the outcomes and accomplishments of the program such as

federal and state legislators, related industry, state and local agencies, other land grant universities and the

constituents themselves. A unified statewide message is needed. (Support Units-Communications and IT)

103


Incorporation of National Branding into UD Cooperative Extension Brand and use broadly to establish name

brand recognition.

Initial “Ask an Expert” as part of Extension web presence and linkage to national Land Grant eXtension

System

Further develop web presence including YouTube, on line courses and certificate programs.

Key message points of plan of work translated into a public piece

Establishment and institutionalize social media efforts

Communication strategy related to strategic initiatives in this plan (i.e. move to more statewide work,

rationale for cost recovery and assistance in communicating the transition, areas of programmatic expertise.

Recommendations Long Term:

Establishment of regular communications with federal and state legislators, related industry, state and local

agencies and constituents about Extension outcomes and accomplishments.

Incorporation of new communication technologies as they develop.

ENTOMOLOGY AND WILDLIFE ECOLOGY

The availability of and instruction in how to use current web-based design tools. For example, instruction in

how to use WordPress, Dreamweaver, or other web design programs, how to create applications, how to track

web traffic for evaluation purposes, etc.

Most of our faculty would benefit from increased technical support for our websites. We have several that

need maintaining and updating (e.g., Biological Control, FRAME, MARUS, Planthoppers).

PLANT AND SOIL SCIENCES

Communications and Information Technology (blended among areas in the plan)

1. Grow and enhance undergraduate education

Recruit a larger number of incoming students into our programs.

Make our programs relevant and interesting to a greater number of students.

Promote our majors, career opportunities, and courses to students.

Promote the availability of research or internship opportunities for our best undergraduates.

Promote our students and graduates for industry and government jobs.

104

XVIII. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Services provided

a) Desktop, hardware and software support

Staffing: Yohannes Tesfaye

Provide recommendations and support for the purchase of new PC and Mac computers

Provide repair and troubleshooting support for existing machines

Provide software recommendations for faculty and professional staff and purchase as needed

Refresh computers/machines as needed

Transfer files and applications from old computers to new computers

b) Computer lab oversight & classroom technology


During computer lab hours, provide printing services for posters sized maximum 42” by 54”.

Maintain and provide support for the following:

o Teaching Lab, 007 TNS

o GIS/AutoCAD Lab, 006 TNS

o Computer Lab, 004 TNS

Support classroom technology for CANR scheduled teaching spaces and centrally scheduled (TNS 132, 009,

002) as needed and in conjunction with University Media Services.

c) Distance technology


Provide software and hardware support for Adobe Connect and Polycom/ITV/H323 systems

Work with Director of Extension and county Extension directors to maintain distance technology support and

new installations of technology throughout county Extension offices

d) Server and email support

Staffing: Greg Keane, Yohannes Tesfaye

Manage the overall security and function of the computing environment and infrastructure

Manage email (College hosted Microsoft Exchange)

Manage U Drive (file storage)

Provide guidance and support for computer back ups

Maintain an inventory of all CANR Mac users and ensure backup of all machines

Maintain an inventory of all server systems and plan for needs associated with all

Assist the CANR web developer with the maintenance and management of web server needs

Provide server support for faculty research needs

105

e) IT solutions

Staffing: Greg Keane, Yohannes Tesfaye

CANR IT is often called upon to provide customized recommendations to faculty and staff for IT solutions for

research, teaching and extension projects, which may be a blend of the aforementioned areas.

Services NOT provided

CANR IT is limited in staffing and resources but has the support of Central IT. For the most part, separate from

high performance computing, CANR IT can provide the basic services provided by Central IT, just not at an

advanced level. UD central IT provides: Academic Technology Services, Client Support and Services, Management

Information Systems, Network and Systems Services, University Media Services, Web Development.

Budgetary Needs

The CANR IT budget was combined with the Communications budget for FY13. We recommend separating the budget

in order to maintain an accurate separation and allocation of funds.

An estimated $15-21K will be needed annual to maintain central services for fileshare and active directory. The

existing IT budget has been sufficient for routine supplies but has not allowed for any new projects, innovation, or

training. These items will be essential to the growth of college IT support.

Staffing Plan

As it exists now, CANR IT staff are adequate to address computing needs of Townsend Hall with some support for

County Cooperative Extension Offices. However, the staffing plan should consider that if the foundational steps for

FY14 are taken (see below) that this should allow CANR IT staff to be able to provide more customized IT solutions for

college faculty, staff, professionals and students.

Separate IT team leadership will be essential to the continued success of the IT unit. This can either happen through

the hire or appointment of an IT manager, or a new hire in educational technology, which would have leadership

duties as well.


As noted in the sections that follow Central IT can provide significant support to CANR in the short and long term IT

needs of the college.


CANR Information Technology reviewed the draft Programmatic Unit (departments and Cooperative Extension) and

has provided these overarching action items based on those plans. Appendix One provides the detailed items

provided specifically from each programmatic unit plan.

In general, CANR IT must move from a completely reactive unit to a more proactive unit, and a source for providing IT

guidance and solutions that evolve beyond desktop support.

CANR will work with UD Information Technology to centralize basic, core services (email, file share, etc.) in

order for CANR’s IT professionals to provide customized service and IT solutions to its faculty and

professionals. CANR IT must continue to assess its services so as not to duplicate existing services already

offered.

CANR must define the core services that are provided by CANR IT and those for which Central IT is

responsible. CANR must change its climate to one of abidance by the structure that supports IT (trouble

106

ticket system, help line, deadlines, providing support for appropriate tasks, etc.) and as such IT professionals

must hold users accountable for said items.

CANR must maintain an accurate inventory of the IT services, hardware and software for which it is

responsible.

CCIT will look to UD’s Academic Technology Services to support the implementation of advances in teaching

technology tools, primarily in the area of distance technology. Advances in teaching with technology will allow

CANR to recruit and train students.

CANR IT must take advantage of professional development opportunities to stay abreast of cutting edge

advances. This includes both internal UD and external opportunities.

CANR IT should be consulted in the grant writing process as much as other support units, especially as many

funding agencies are now looking for advanced solutions for “broader impacts” and solutions for data

management plans. Traditionally this consultation has been an afterthought and in order for CANR to be even

more successful in securing grants, PIs might seek the expertise of CCIT professionals in these areas.

Due to the strong research mission of the college, it will be essential to the continual success of faculty

members for CANR Information Technology to provide customized research computing and database

support.

Maintaining sustainability of extension and teaching programs also requires preparing for the next

generation of learners and their desired methods of learning. A hybrid of distance technologies involving

synchronous and asynchronous methods along with traditional face-to-face methods is needed. CANR

Information Technology must be suited to provide customized guidance to faculty members for the

development of these courses and support for their implementation. CANR must devote facilities and

resources to make these teaching technologies possible and encouraged.

1) Centralize CANR Email on the UD Microsoft Exchange Server.

2) Virtualize CANR web servers as existing hardware needs replacing.

3) Move to Central file storage (NTFS) and active directory (AD) services. Faculty servers will be

evaluated on a case-by-case basis for movement into Chapel Street Computing Center, Delaware

Biotechnology Institute’s Data Center, or remain in TNS 102A. This will involve CANR using Central

Active Directory.

4) Evaluate CANR Computer Teaching Facilities for renovations and/or migration to Central Scheduling

(Registrar’s Office).

5) Reinstate the Computer Desktop Refreshment Program.

6) Renovate the Townsend Hall Commons into an Information Commons.

7) Provide a solution for IT team leadership either through the hiring of an IT manager or through a

combination of an existing position at IT (i.e. DBI).

8) CANR will evaluate college and campus solutions for GIS licensing and computer laboratories.

Appendix 1. Items from programmatic units

The items below are specifically pulled from the draft Programmatic Unit Plans (Departments and Cooperative

Extension). Information Technology is specifically called out in all of the programmatic plans; however,

communications is often inferred due to support with web development. It will be important in the finalization of the

master plan to put some more concrete text around the needs of the programmatic units.

ANIMAL AND FOOD SCIENCES

Information Technology

To meet increasing general IT needs and informatics needs for research, it is vital that we retain a systems

administrator with these abilities and skills:

107

Install and maintain Unix or Linux based servers

Maintain the security of the servers

Maintain distributed backups of all data

Ability to install and maintain a database system

Familiarity with the computational needs of our research community

Advise users regarding computer purchases

Install software packages and trouble-shooting failed installations

APPLIED ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS

Communications and Information Technology (combined)

Students’ first impression of an academic department is determined by their view of the website. It is crucial

to have a current and informative website for recruitment and dissemination of important information.

Most notably we are lacking in technical assistance for web development and maintenance, computers,

software, and support for research. We have been doing the best possible with what is currently provided by

the college.





assistance we need.





COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

Goal: Enhanced Educational delivery through facilities and distance technology enhancements. Maintaining

sustainability of extension also requires preparing for the next generation of learners and their desired methods of

learning. A hybrid of distance technologies involving synchronous and asynchronous methods along with traditional

face-to-face methods is needed. (Support Units-IT and Communications)


Foster the statewide programmatic efforts through distance technologies that provide for efficient time and travel of

faculty, agents and specialists.

Distance Education expertise and support for course development (both credit, certificate and non-credit courses)

utilizing distance course development (Moodle or other capacity.)

Technical support for computer file sharing, calendar sharing, mail, survey and evaluation tools and data storage, and

new planning and reporting system.

108

Cutting edge technology and a technology plan for each office location that is part of a master plan, including the

appropriate investment strategy for equipment (lease verses own).

Goal: Communications Enhancements. Cooperative Extension is heavily dependent upon the communications unit and IT

for assistance in the development, marketing and delivery of education programs as well as for the informing multiple

forms of stakeholders about the outcomes and accomplishments of the program such as federal and state legislators,

related industry, state and local agencies, other land grant universities and the constituents themselves. A unified

statewide message is needed. (Support Units-Communications and IT)

Recommendations Long Term:

Push technology that provides educational information on time needed basis.

ENTOMOLOGY AND WILDLIFE ECOLOGY

Information Technology

1) The loss of our computer replacement program has been problematic and we would like to see the return of

this program.

2) Several faculty would benefit from an up-graded long-distance conferencing system; perhaps in our

conference room. This will help facilitate graduate committee meetings, extension programs, teaching efforts

down state.

3) We would all benefit from better access (i.e. faster and greater capacity) to data storage, archiving, and file

sharing on the CANR network.

4) Establishment of an FTP server to permanently store and deliver existing and future scientific software

and/or datasets produced from sponsored research projects.

5) The availability of and instruction in how to use current web-based design tools. For example, instruction in

how to use Wordpress, Dreamweaver, or other web design programs, how to create applications, how to track

web traffic for evaluation purposes, etc.

6) Most of our faculty would benefit from increased technical support for our websites. We have several that

need maintaining and updating (e.g., Biological Control, FRAME, MARUS , Planthoppers).

PLANT AND SOIL SCIENCES

Communications and Information Technology (blended among areas in the plan)

1. Grow and enhance undergraduate education

Consider online teaching methods for their utility and impact.

We anticipate needing improved IT technology for teaching genomics, bioinformatics, distance learning,

including improved desktop and laptop computers in faculty offices.

*Other items inferred include the increased support overall for IT research needs (large data needs, research

computing, database support, etc.).

109

IX. FACILITIES

Mission

Overall, College facilities exist to meet the wide range of teaching, research, and extension activities prioritized by

CANR. For this college, that includes office, classroom, and lab space, as well as unique creamery, greenhouse, farm,

and field units. Also, we utilize the landscape for these fundamental activities working both separately and in

combination on agriculture, the environment, ecology, and horticulture. The desire to provide the best, most up-to-

date facilities is constantly being balanced with budgetary constraints.

Services provided

1) Manage the planning, implementation, and budgets of all major facilities and capital projects for the

College.

2) Monitor and initiate requests for routine maintenance and renovations of all CANR facilities.

3) Participate in general activities including committees, College activities, and University initiatives as well

as tracking information including facilities spending and space surveys.

Generally, the Admin Facilities Manager handles maintenance and renovation projects that are (1)

interdepartmental or (2) supported by the Dean with funding or coordination for larger or more complicated

projects. Departments typically handle maintenance and minor renovation within their own labs and offices.

Likewise, unit leaders take the lead on their facilities, coordinating with the facilities manager and providing

updates as needed. This includes the farm superintendent, greenhouse manager, creamery manager, Carvel REC

director, and remote Extension office managers (461 Wyoming, Paradee).

Budgetary needs

In the past, the facilities budget started with base funding intended for routine maintenance and minor renovations.

That account code was added to when larger projects were authorized. If this is to change so that the Facilities

manager receives a finite annual budget that will be managed to accommodate multi-year maintenance planning,

figuring out what this budget should be will take time. In FY12, about $40,000 was spent on projects above basic

maintenance, often as cost sharing with departments. Basic maintenance is about a third that much. Major

construction projects require development of their own budget as we commit to them.

Catching up with deferred maintenance is also a consideration. A plan to improve facilities, especially on the farm will

take time to develop and the cost for doing so will be significant.

As the potential for collectivizing facilities is considered, (i.e. storage areas, conference rooms, grad offices, open-use

lab facilities), the increased need for Admin maintenance funding and oversight should be considered. Agreements

will need to be reached on how maintenance costs will be shared between the budgets of facilities, other units, and the

departments.

Staffing Plan

The work I could use part-time help with would be best done by someone who will consistently be available, so that

time is saved after training. Also, having a non-student would be helpful because students have a hard time holding

their own interacting with faculty or other maintenance staff. Consequently, except for fairly easy “paperwork” type

tasks that can be done occasionally by office staff, I’m not able to distribute tasks.


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1) I will be moving departmental space surveys to the respective administrative offices.

2) I’m moving nutrient management to Mike Popovich for Newark, Vic Greene and Cory Whaley for

downstate, and turf nutrient management to Mike Loftus.


1) Work with the Dean to develop a plan for renovating or replacing Worrilow.

2) Work with the Dean and Departments toward renovating and constructing facilities that are identified in

department/Admin master plans and prioritized.

3) Develop an overall plan to improve maintenance of farm structures and roads.

4) Develop/implement a system to address disposal of unused equipment and supplies.

5) Develop/implement a plan to identify all storage spaces and formally assign them to avoid dumping

grounds.

6) Continue to work on removing buildings that the College fully maintains from RBB Algorithm 12.

7) Work closely with the CANR Space Committee to meet the needs of departments.

Appendix 1. Items from programmatic units

The following two pages identify ways that I can contribute to implementing the facilities component of departmental

plans. For the most part, my action items listed above are not mentioned by the departments, with the exception of

addressing Worrilow.

Glaringly, whether this results from the master planning instructions or whether it reflects actual departmental

mindset, departments did not strongly address a vision for how the landscape should be maintained or improved to

meet their missions to any great degree. ANFS does recognize the need for adequate farm staffing (I strongly agree)

but, otherwise, the land itself was not considered. Our land provides infrastructure, fields, water systems, and a wide

range of habitats and gardens that are fundamental to departmental missions. All of these have a cost to them, the

same as equipment, buildings, and people. Why is there no vision for the future of this landscape?

Faculty and Staff Office Space

Office space will primarily be addressed within the space committee. A rolling list of available space will be

maintained that can be utilized as additional staff and faculty are hired. Several offices can be made available by

limiting faculty to a single office in DBI or ISE. Using office space more efficiently would still not meet the desired

increases identified by departments, especially APEC who would like to double in size over 25 years. The closest

opportunity for that much office space would be to accept 501 S. College. (Recall, the great cost associated with

renovation was for removing loadbearing walls to create larger open spaces. Leaving the building configured as

offices would require minimal expense, provided Facilities is tasked with paying for basic infrastructure

improvement.) Taking over 501 S. College would also provide a valuable large meeting/lecture space for all

departments. Alternatively, converting Worrilow to office and classroom space would work.

Graduate Student Office Space

Graduate student space falls within the purview of the Space Committee. Space is not provided consistently across

departments. Initial discussion within the Space Committee is that the College should work toward providing a desk

for every grad student in all departments and that there should be minimum standards for graduate office space

across all departments that meet basic UD safety and ADA occupancy standards. Some inter-departmental sharing

may be desirable with care toward clustering researchers using similar technologies or research topics. There are few

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available spaces for additional graduate students within our current footprint without repurposing existing spaces

such as conference rooms or possibly 057 Townsend when the economics lab moves. Taking over 501 S. College or

converting Worrilow could provide grad student space. PLSC needs should be addressed with some farmhouse

renovation once Jin and Sparks students move to ISE.

Research Facilities

A strong consensus is that Worrilow does not meet current research needs. Per Krawchuk, the building should only

be renovated for less infrastructurally intensive uses like office or teaching space. A new building is needed that

allows for lab systems similar to ISE or DBI in Newark. Likewise, Lasher lab may need to be repurposed and a new

building constructed. Lasher’s BSL-2 lab needs renovation or replacement and a new BSL-3 lab is needed. New

buildings will be discussed collectively below.

Classrooms

Several departments expressed the need for more and larger lab classes to allow expanded enrollment. One

possibility is to combine the two large adjacent lab classes in Worrilow. No additional space is available within our

current footprint and would have to be addressed while planning a new lab building and renovation of Worrilow.

There may be ability to improve two remaining lab classes in Worrilow and the one in Townsend.

ANFS has identified the need for a test kitchen and sensory lab to expand food science teaching. This could be

accommodated in the Newton building with considerable renovation (and removal of animal research from the

building).

ANFS has also identified the need for a PBL classroom on the Webb farm. The only space available is the small

recently renovated student room in the sheep barn. Alternatively, if space can be carved out, a room could be built in

the arena.

General classroom space cannot be increased within the current footprint but existing classrooms could be renovated

to accommodate multiple teaching styles. Some would require main campus cooperation.

Storage

ENWE would like a 40 x 60 pole barn on the farm for large equipment storage. This is not strictly needed if they can

keep half of 124 Worrilow once cleared. They also have space in the Entomology building, in farm buildings, and in

the S. greenhouse. What they would gain, however is replacement of the Ecology Woods field building and that has

merit. We have a design and budget. Funding is required.

Extension needs storage in Paradee. This likely requires acquisition of additional space either within Paradee or at a

remote storage facility. Some improvements might be gained by renovation of existing storage spaces.

Other

Insect Reference Collection Museum- While the space is not ideal, perhaps 056/057 Townsend could be renovated for

this purpose. Once a location is identified, renovation needs are not complicated.

Economics Lab/Center – Project under way.

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New Buildings

New buildings require funding which requires design and cost estimating. Under consideration are two lab buildings

(Worrilow replacement and perhaps Lasher), two commercial poultry houses, a 40 x 60 storage building, and eventual

replacement of the Newark broiler house. Once prioritized, we can work with FP&C to generate designs and budgets

that can be used for fundraising and planning.

Storage needs are ever expanding. To a significant extent, current needs can be met by purging old equipment and

supplies, and careful allocation of existing space.

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XX. CENTRAL BUSINESS SERVICES

Mission

The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is a Land-Grant Institution, Research Experiment Station, and State

Cooperative Extension Service as created by the Morrill, Hatch, and Smith-Lever Acts, respectively. As a land grant

college, Agricultural Sciences receives federal formula funds for research and extension which contribute to annual

funding in excess of $60 million. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is the only college at the university

that receives federal formula funds. Federal formula funds require stringent and complex reporting, one of the factors

that makes the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources funding the most complex at the university. The college

also receives extramural support from the state, counties, industries and foundations.

Services provided

The college has a central business office that provides accurate and consistent reports for the federal government and

general services to all four academic departments, two experiment stations and three county offices. Although

decentralization to departments has occurred and is encouraged, the central business office provides oversight of all

college budgeting, reconciles accounts, coordinates pre-award and post-award grants processing and administers

personnel matters.

a) Business services

The Central Business Office of CANR currently reviews and monitors financial activity on over 1,000 separate

purposes ranging from RBB (block), Allocated, Self-Supporting, State lines, Federal Appropriations, Federal Grants,

Gifts, State Grants, other grants, gifts, endowments, and agency funds.

The university fiscal year covers July through June activity and the year-end close is an extended period covering

multiple closes during July for 4-6 weeks duration. This covers all non-federal purposes. The federal fiscal year

covers October through September and this close occurs annually during October.

Ensure proper coding of all transactions based on detailed account designation.

All fiscal transactions are subject to internal and external audits. Internal audits are completed on an annual basis

during August of each year. Federal audits have been completed in recent years.

Processes all revenue received from self-supporting purposes including cash, checks and credit card transactions

according to set UD policies. Works closely with UD Cashiers and Gifts Processing units to assure proper receipt of

funds received centrally through billing/accounts receivable process.

Coordinates grants processing for the college, with responsibilities for both pre-award and post-award functions.

Assists Project Directors/Investigators to prepare, submit and maintain contracts and grants; reviews grant

application instructions to ensure a timely and accurate submission; prepares budgets; provides follow-up

information; resolves problems and addresses issues; prepares request for budget revisions and no-cost extensions;

oversees award closeout.

Verifies the accuracy of financial records as they pertain to receipts, expenditures, and related transactions to

maintain effective stewardship of sponsor's funds; monitors documentation of grant expenditures and cost share to

ensure consistency with grant requirements and compliance with applicable laws and regulations and to maximize

use of available funds.

Meets with departmental administrators and Project Directors/Investigators to provide expertise and leadership on

contracts and grant processing and administration; develops and implements methods of communicating necessary

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information to faculty and staff and provides training to assure compliance with federal and University policy;

supervises employees engaged in accounting for grant funds.

Maintains budgets for federal appropriations including Hatch, Hatch Multistate, Smith Lever, Animal Health, McIntire-

Stennis; runs monthly reports to monitor expense and cost share balances; prepares financial information for the

USDA/NIFA Plan of Work report and the AD-419 report; completes the Animal Health and Disease Program of

Research and the McIntire-Stennis Program of Research; works directly with staff and the Research Office to close-out

federal appropriations.

Manages all federal Experiment Station Projects (Hatch, Hatch Multistate, Animal Health, McIntire-Stennis); Reviews

projects annually to advise faculty of terminating projects; works directly with faculty to establish new or renewal

projects. Submits forms through the National Information Management and Support System (NIMSS) and USDA/NIFA

(REEport) for approval. Reviews and submits all progress/termination reports through REEport.

Maintains knowledge of applicable laws, policies, procedures, etc. necessary to comply with Federal, State, and

University regulations concerning contracts and grants. Reviews and/or approves all webforms containing any CANR

purpose; this amounts to hundreds of transactions on a daily basis.

Attends meetings and workshops at department, college and university levels. Represents the college at USDA

conferences at regional and national level.

Participates and/or assists in special projects.

b). Human Resources

Maintains confidential personnel files on all benefited positions including faculty, exempt and non-exempt personnel.

Also maintain separate confidential personnel files related to evaluations and medical.

Actively participates in recruitment process of faculty, exempt and non-exempt positions. Strive to maintain a diverse

search committee and obtain a diverse applicant pool.

Provides departments with annual Employee Merit distribution (May) spreadsheets, and enter information into

central electronic system for deans approval balancing with designated pool allocations.

Processes all contract promotions (requires update to position and job employment data); process all graduate

student renewals.

Provides guidance to departments on matters relating to personnel issues.

Processes all terminations and maintain terminated employee files for one year until the files are transferred to

central Human Resources for retention purposes.

All personnel webforms are date sensitive and must be submitted prior to mandated deadlines in order to avoid

missed pays or overpayments.

Human Resources information is subject to audit; provided documentation required by a USDA HR audit of all

Extension and Research funded personnel in 2010.

Maintains effort through LAM for all personnel except those assigned to Animal and Food Sciences. Effort subject to

change based on grant funding changes.

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Budgetary Needs

The CANR Central Business office is currently providing these services with a small staff of 4 professionals and 3

dedicated miscellaneous wage personnel.

Staffing Plan

Recommend increasing staff to reduce current stress level.

HR and fiscal responsibilities need to be separated into 2 positions that work closely together.

UD Central Administration needs to provide additional tools and training for PeopleSoft.

During FY14, two positions will become vacant due to retirements; immediate hiring of these positions will be critical.

File maintenance for all APEC and ENTO purposes will be transferred and maintained by these units.


If responsibilities from the CBO are outsourced to individual units additional manpower within the units will be

necessary. College staff is overextended with their current workload.


Hire a new Chief Budget Officer to provide leadership for Business Services.

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XXI. ELBERT N. AND ANN V. CARVEL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION CENTER

Facility overview

What began in 1941, as the University of Delaware’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources southern

agricultural experimental “substation” has evolved into an influential, multi-faceted complex that has been vital in

supporting Delaware’s 8 billion dollar agricultural industry. The Carvel facility’s 26,000 square feet of offices, labs,

meeting, and classroom space is surrounded by 347 acres used for agricultural research (Thurman Adams Jr.

Agricultural Research Farm), and the adjacent Lasher Laboratory, a world-class poultry research and diagnostic

laboratory. The Jones-Hamilton Environmental Poultry Research house is also a critical facility in evaluating litter

management and air quality areas.

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Jones Hamilton Environmental Poultry Research House

In addition, the Warrington Research Farm (130 Acres) located in Harbeson, Delaware serves as a primary irrigation

research facility focusing on center pivot (66 acres) and sub-surface (18 acres) irrigation technologies.

Warrington Irrigation Research Farm

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The Carvel Research and Education Center (CREC) is also home to Sussex County Cooperative Extension, whose

agents, specialists, staff, and volunteers deliver university-based knowledge to a diverse group, continuing the strong

tradition of serving the citizens of Delaware and the region. The former office and meeting complex (10,728 square

feet) located south east of CREC now referred to as the REC Annex, serves as supplemental meeting and storage space

and is the office of Delmarva Poultry Industries (DPI).

Funding for CREC staff (50), operations, and support comes from federal (Hatch and Smith Lever funds), State, County,

and extramural funds. State funds have been instrumental in expanding staff, facility construction, renovations,

research equipment and operations, totaling over 15 million dollars since 1991. In addition, County funds since 1991

totaling over 2.5 million dollars have been invaluable in supporting research and extension programs.

With the arrival of Dean Mark Rieger in 2012, the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources initiated the

development of a College Master Plan in 2013. The CREC staff was charged with thinking about the future. How will

the experiment station, our facility, and staff change in fifteen to twenty-five years (2028-2038) to meet the challenges

facing agriculture and our Delaware residents? What will be the priorities for our research, diagnostic, and extension

programs? This document provides a brief summary of future trends in Sussex County, programmatic opportunities,

facility support and direction, and challenges in meeting these goals. The following information is a summary

extracted from Carvel personnel and clientele in response to five questions proposed by the CREC Director:

Existing/new research and extension personnel needs

Existing/new facility and capital improvement needs

Overall facility and research equipment needs

What role does our facility and staff play in student recruitment and teaching

Innovative strategies to address limited resources and program expansion

Unique Strengths of the CREC

The CREC has a long history (72 years) of providing valuable support to the citizens of Delaware and the region,

through outstanding applied research and extension programs. The relatively new Carvel building (2006) provides a

“state of the art” facility for office, meeting, and teaching space. The design and layout of the building has significantly

enhanced the communications and program coordination among staff and volunteers. The Thurman Adams Jr.

agricultural research farm provides researchers from main campus, as well as Georgetown, the opportunity to

conduct studies throughout the State that directly impact Delaware farmers. This research farm is noted by many in

the agricultural industry as one of the most well equipped and operated farms not only in the region, but on the East

coast.

Thurman Adams Jr. Agricultural Research Farm

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a) Sussex Demographics

In the past twenty years, Sussex (population) has

grown rapidly. The growth trend is expected to

continue although at a slightly slower rate. The

growth rate will be influenced by the possible

rebound in the real estate sector.

68,000 residents not in the labor force. (A large pool)

Largest increase in population will come From

persons age 65+.

o Demand for healthcare services and the

need for jobs in the field.

Need to attract and retain younger workers to

replace “Baby-Boomers” during the next few

years.

o Extend careers and introduce encore

careers to our senior population.

Retention of existing businesses and attraction of

new ones depends on qualified work force

(From the summary slide by Ed Simon from the Sussex

Conference Demographic Overview)

b) technology

Broadband access will continue to improve with significant change seen in 5 years. Last mile access will be wireless

for rural users. There continues to be challenges for some Sussex citizens for access to reliable and functional internet

capability. Once addressed, the use of the web will become the backbone of information for clientele. In addition, the

use of Precision Ag technologies in all aspects of crop production continues to expand.

c) Environmental regulation

Due to Sussex County’s location within significant watersheds of national importance, (Chesapeake Bay, Inland Bays

and Delaware Bay) water resource management, climate change and regulatory issues remain front and center.

Maintaining a productive and profitable agricultural industry in conjunction with environmental quality will be

paramount for the States 8 billion industry. This will require a continued strong commitment to research and

extension efforts in the areas of nutrient management, irrigation, pest management, and livestock production.

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d) Economic and community development

There are twenty-five towns in Sussex with significant

infrastructure and revenue challenges. There will be a

demand for expertise in managing this ever-changing

landscape.

Sussex will remain an economy of small business anchoring a

significant service and retail tourism market. A recent study

states Delaware’s coastal economy is valued at $6 billion

dollars. If you couple this with the $8 billion dollar agriculture

economy, you understand Sussex County economic engines.

Community resiliency will expand from our coastal

communities to our rural communities. Through issue-based

forums, town halls, informal discussions, and in-depth

research and analysis, our Extension programs work side by side with communities on both short and long term

issues that will affect economic and community prosperity.

e). Education

K-12 will see an increased scrutiny on the disparity of resources between eastern and western Sussex County. There

is an expectation of elevated education in the math, science, and engineering curriculum. New charter schools will be

in place, expanding school choice options for Sussex residents. Student populations will continue to increase, with a

significant increase in the Hispanic population.

Delaware Technical and Community College will continue as a significant County resource. Their 2 year Ag degree

with unique concentrations continues to attract Sussex students. An opportunity may exist for our College to expand

course offerings and degree concentrations as it pertains to the University of Delaware’s Associate Arts degree

program. This will allow transfer students the opportunity to get exposed to agriculture curriculum and possibly aid

the College in recruitment of students from southern Delaware.

e) Programmatic opportunities

“Continue to do what we are doing only better and more efficiently”

Agriculture & Horticulture

IPM/Weed Science- insects, weeds, and diseases are complex and difficult issues and will continue to be

challenging with different combinations of seed traits and herbicides, and the management of resistant

species.

Irrigation-irrigation and water usage will become even more important in the future for Sussex County

and the State. Focuson improved water management (efficiency and conservation), and enhancing crop

production and nutrient management will be critical.

Nutrient Management- environmental issues are going to become even more contentious and litigious.

Farmers, homeowners, and the landscape and greens industriescontinue to look to UD for help and

guidance.

Variety and fertility trials-research on new varieties, production methods, and enhancing efficient

fertilizer plant use are important areas of emphasis.

Organics- will continue to grow as a popular trend with a limited audience. Organic commodity prices

are a minimum of 25% over conventional grain prices. However, current research is demonstrating

significant challenges in this area, particularly as it relates to labor and yield.

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Master Gardener Program- continues to expand each year.Sussex County Master Gardeners volunteered

a total of 6,189,25 hours (average of 80 hours per Master gardener) in 2012 for educational efforts in the

following areas: Demonstration gardens, public service, mass media, educational presentations,

community projects, exhibits and displays. Hours given by volunteers saved Delaware Cooperative

Extension $116,172.22 ($18.77 professional rate). Interest continues to increase for information

regarding “victory gardens” and backyard food production for home consumption.

Sussex County Master Gardeners are people who enjoy gardening, have gardening experience, want to

learn more about gardening and have a desire to help others in their community.

Their volunteer contribution provides a significant economic and environmental service to the local

community. In alternate years, Carvel serves as a joint training location for both Kent and Sussex County

Master Gardeners.The Demonstration Garden, located directly behind Carvel is the site for self-directed

tours and is an open-air classroom for a wide variety of residential horticulture topics. This garden

serves host to workshop topics ranging from pruning, composting, hypertufa, starting a vegetable garden,

weed and plant ID, encouraging songbirds and butterflies and much more! In recent years Master

Gardeners have gained recognition for their efforts in emphasizing Accessible Gardens. Their Garden

Smart/Garden Easy presentations encourage those with physical disabilities to continue to enjoy

gardening. In addition, the award-winning puppet show, The Adventures of Peter Rabbit in Farmer

McGregor’s Garden travels to schools and special events across the state - wherever young children and

their parents, may gather. The educational show features garden pests, pollinators, and making healthy

food choices.

Wildlife Conservation/demonstration area- public interest in this field may demand more attention.

Designated area in Georgetown includes the woodlot and small field plantings.

Locally raised livestock- interest continues to grow in grass-fed/pasture raised, locally produced beef,

lamb, and poultry.

Poultry production and disease management- emphasis has greatly increased with informational

transfer of applied research for all aspects of poultry production. Primary areas include litter

management, ventilation and air quality, overall house management with technology (controllers), bio-

security, energy (see below), and manure management. Lasher laboratory is the front line for poultry

disease surveillance and diagnostics.

Energy- research in this area has primarily focused on energy savings for poultry production. Emphasis

is ventilation, solar, LED lighting, and potential for alternative uses of manure for energy and enhanced

nutrient recovery.

Vegetables- research in this area has dramatically increased with the new Vegetable and Fruit Extension

Specialist in Georgetown. Emphasis continues in lima bean breeding and production, vine crops, and

sweet corn. Additional research includes specialty fruit and Cole crops. Food safety and handling has

become of critical importance to fresh markets, processing plants, and home owners.

Horticulture- commercial horticulture continues to increase in Sussex. The landscape and greens

industry along with homeowners are major areas of emphasis along with business management and

marketing.

Farm financial and business management- unique programs like “Annie’s Project” work with farm and

agriculture industry wives on business management and touch the importance of family business

transitioning (Estate planning).

Farm, home, and work place safety- this program continues to provide outreach to diverse audiences,

with emphasis on farm equipment and shop safety, grain handling, protective equipment, and Agrability.

Disaster preparedness has also become paramount for Sussex County and the State, especially within the

coastal communities.

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4-H Youth leadership and development

4-H has a long and proud agricultural tradition, but in its 100+ year history, has also focused on important life skills,

citizenship, leadership, healthy lifestyles, the arts, science and technology, and engineering.4-H is really youth in

action. The county 4-H Extension agents, with the help of dedicated adult volunteer leadership in all parts of the

county and state, make it possible for every boy and girl - regardless of race, creed, economic or cultural background -

to take part in 4-H activities. 4-H members learn about science and scientific methods. They explore careers and

obtain valuable life skills, such as public speaking and demonstrations, which are critical in today’s workforce. Sussex

County 4-H’ers have the opportunity to explore, in depth, many 4-H project curricula; the principles of agriculture

production and management, family and consumer science, animal science, healthy lifestyles, creative and

communication arts and much more. 4-H is unique. Through a variety of outreach modes; traditional clubs,

afterschool, in- school initiatives, day and overnight camping, 4-H delivers diverse and flexible education through

experiential learning. Sussex County youth involved in 4-H plan and put their ideas into action. It is little wonder that

it is one of the largest youth programs in the world.

For the 2012-2013 year Sussex County 4-H has 414 members comprising 20 traditional clubs, four Afterschool clubs

and five specialty clubs attended to by 90 dedicated adult volunteers. Like any educator in Delaware, 4-H is proud that

our family of volunteer educators are screened with background checks and enthusiastically attend trainings and

forums throughout the year to enhance an already vibrant leadership force that is committed to the 4-H motto to

“make the best, better.”

Family & Consumer Sciences

Now more than ever, the disciplines and programs under the umbrella of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS)

contribute relevant and much needed information to individuals and families. As people struggle with balancing

budgets, becoming better consumers, worrying about the quality of their family childcare, improve nutrition, reduce

obesity, remaining productive as they mature and having the ability to purchase, prepare and consume food safely, FCS

Extension agents are providing their constituents with practical use for the latest research and technology. Programs

like the Master Food Educators are critical in meeting these demands. This volunteer workforce helps FCS agents’ staff

educational displays, assist or conduct workshops, present nutrition, food safety and wellness curricula to schools and

other public groups.

FCS agents and the outreach professionals from EFNEP are committed to help individuals choose healthy food

selections and lead a physically active lifestyle. EFNEP nutrition assistance in particular, outreach to low-income

families where nutrition resources are most needed, and are a key component of the 4-H Day Camp experience

emphasizing healthy eating choices. While a balanced diet of fruits, grains, vegetables, dairy and protein are always

emphasized, knowing that the good foods are grown and prepared safely is of vital importance. FCS professionals offer

continuous workshops to the commercial and smaller growers who produce the food we eat. It starts at the farm and

extends to the table. FCS staff work with Ag agents in teaching our produce growers how to handle food safely through

education such as Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and Good Handling Practices (GHPs). In addition, food safety

programs such as the nationally recognized ServSafe and local short course DineSafe, train the chefs, cooks, waiting

staff and anyone who handles food, how to serve it safely.

In cooperation with the State of Delaware Division of Childcare Licensing, FCS staff provides quality, extensive training

sessions for those working directly with children to enhance their skills and maintain their licensing.

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Staffing plan

Space utilization and facility needs

Lasher Lab Mission: To support the poultry industry and maintain its economic viability through poultry disease

diagnosis and applied poultry research.

This lab represents the first line of defense against poultry diseases on the Delmarva Peninsula. Diagnostic services

provided at Lasher include necropsy and clinical diagnosis, bacteriology, serology, and mycology using molecular

diagnostic testing. Virology and histopathology specimens collected at Lasher lab are sent to Newark (Allen Lab) for

further testing. As a NALHN approved laboratory, Lasher lab routinely performs surveillance for avian influenza and

exotic Newcastle disease as well. In addition, there is close cooperation and collaboration with State Department of

Agriculture laboratories in both Delaware and Maryland and along with numerous commercial labs in the two state

areas. This keeps all parties abreast of current poultry diseases and related production problems at all levels from the

breeder flocks through the processing plants.

The role of Lasher Laboratory as the premier poultry diagnostic laboratory in the Delmarva region is secure. There is

a long-term steady demand for diagnostic services and research that support poultry health and food safety (see table

below).

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Applied research projects in collaboration with the poultry industry, faculty, and allied poultry industry in adapting

new technologies, and helping develop best management practices are in place. Among these are:

Beta-testing new diagnostic PCR commercial kits for Salmonella, Campylobacter, a respiratory viral disease

screening panel, which includes a rapid, multiplex-PCR screening for common Infectious Bronchitis subtypes.

Evaluating the performance of different commercial brands of ELISA and PCR tests for the detection of a

number of common poultry diseases.

Evaluating the effects of on-demand application of poultry litter treatment application in broilers.

Evaluating the effect of in-house composting and an adapted propane torch flow-through kiln-dryer on

poultry disease pathogen inactivation and broiler performance.

Evaluating various methods of Infectious Bronchitis vaccine application to determine the most optimal mode

of administration.

Evaluating various coccidiosis vaccines for infectivity and shedding patterns.

Developing disease models for Gangrenous Dermatitis and Necrotic Enteritis, and evaluating the influence of

various feed additives on both diseases.

Surveillance of respiratory diseases and the detection of novel or emerging and/or re-emerging Infectious

Bronchitis viruses.

Discovery of novel variant strains of Infectious Bursal Disease.

Field Disease Investigations: Developed an integrative model (disease surveillance, environmental evaluation,

feed testing) for identifying predisposing factors and major contributors to disease and poor performance.

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Distance learning Classroom. Carvel’s state of the art telecommunication classroom is designed to deliver the best in

acoustics and HD imagery to provide students, faculty, and staff distant learning opportunities. This classroom has

also been recently upgraded to accommodate Adobe Connect conferencing as well. The classroom provides Carvel

staff opportunities to teach courses to main campus in Newark, and allow for expanded meeting capability saving

valuable time and travel resources. Course offerings have included vegetable crops, weed science, and Agriculture

education. In addition, this classroom provides opportunities for agriculture industry meetings not only within

Delaware but globally as well.

Old REC office complex (REC Annex)

Roof replaced on main building

Re-locate plant science lab currently in Lasher to old weed science building (needs new heating and AC

system)

Replacement of tables and chairs for meeting rooms

Water treatment system for old REC and shed will need to be replaced

Renovate/upgrade

Possible alternative - REC ANNEX, remodeled, might serve as a 4-H Center. The meeting room could be

enlarged, modernized and possibly rented out when 4-H is not using the space, as an income generator. 4-H

has an entrepreneurial curriculum – this could be managed by interns and agent oversight for the benefit of

all programming, not just 4-H - in the same way creamery interns run the UDairy. Meeting space and break

out rooms rented to community and private functions – modeled along the lines of the Virden Center – are

very much in demand in this area. Given the high dollar that DTCC fetches for its facility rentals, this could be

self-sustaining. A bit of a pipe dream, but there is a very big community need for meeting space, and this

126

location might fill that need. Downside is this would require additional maintenance and custodial staff and

would elevate operating costs for Carvel.

Remove old vegetable research trailer

Carvel building

Stairwell treads

Chiller, etc. – pumps and motors will require repairs or replacement

Roof repair (leak free guaranteed)

Upgrade in generator capacity

Poultry houses and research buildings

All roofs will need painting and repairs

State-of-the-art poultry research houses (commercial scale) for true trial comparisons

Lasher Lab – Total Renovation

Backup generator

Poultry research/necropsy – needs to be updated (hatchery included in this); bathroom would be nice

Re-grade/repave road via necropsy

Farms (Thurman Adams Jr., Dill, and Warrington)

Replace aging ag research infrastructure (irrigation technology & pivots, add auto steer, yield monitoring)

Purchase the 5+ acres where home and buildings are at Dill farm and move/demolish existing structure

Expand/renovate the farm shop

Expand equipment storage shed (critical for keeping specialized research equipment out of weather)

Paint room/booth (for farm equipment)

Experimental Station Road will need to be repaved/gated

Liquid fertilizer handling facility for safety purposes

Walk-in coolers on farm and lab for plant science

General

Parking lots will need to be resurfaced/sealed

Septic systems will need repairs or replacement

Grove – take proper steps to ensure health and longevity

Forest land – continue to manage for harvest

Clear out debris piles

Purchase or rent more land adjacent to us

127

Storage will always be a huge issue (currently old REC serves this capacity well)

Improve field drainage/grading issues

Outside showers

Classroom space

Possibility of using solar/wind for energy

Continue to update fitness facility for Carvel staff

Demolish old buildings that are becoming eye sores and a drain on resources

Housing for visiting scientists, grad students, etc.

Blinking light in front of building (turn lane?)

Maintain ITV capabilities, however need Townsend Hall to partner with complementary equipment and

facilities. Have a state of the art room at Carvel and just a poor make do room (007) in Townsend Hall

Sub-zero commercial or wide freezer

New refrigerator/ice machine – kitchen

iPads for staff

Upgraded phone system

Replace all copiers

Motor pool (fleet of vans for use – agents, 4-H, poultry, etc.)

Updated lab equipment for Lasher and plant science (molecular) including growth chambers

Farm

Fabrication/project development shop

Land level many of the fields on the farm.

Continue critical technical support of the farm crew.

Equipment for vegetable production, particularly effective cultivators for 30-inch rows as well as new 6-row

monosem

6-row corn planter

Welder/plasma cutter

Continue to upgrade research plot combines

Small plot harvester/sheller for limas/peas

Corn stalk cutter

Rear loading lowboy trailer

New truck tractor

128

New Kruger trailer for top kick truck

Backhoe

New sprayer for weed science

Continue to upgrade tractors

New computers in farm shop

RTK Auto steer

Truck with lift gate

Zone and vertical tillage equipment

Advanced irrigation system/equipment

Mini escavator

2 new gator ATVs

Climate control seed storage

New irrigation for demo garden & grove

Vegetable processing research area

High tunnels/nursery/shade house

Update computers

Small plot research combine

Poultry Research

Access to freezer facilities outside of Lasher Lab

Establish a poultry emission-testing lab (15 x 15 or larger) to provide evaluation services for the industries

that are of interests in evaluating their products on emission control, bird production performance and

health.

Upgrade the environmental house with variable speed 24”fan, scales, controller for actuated attic vent.

Update controller software. Add to CT controller feed & bird scales or update present system to advanced

controls and internet access.

Demolish the old large broiler barn that is no longer used and build one or two new broiler houses for broiler

environmental and emission research and demonstration, such as tunnel ventilation, attic vent, and different

lighting systems.

Poultry truck and bobcat

New incubators

Research pens for poultry

129


Staff flexibility-Staff personnel may need to stop being focused upon past job roles and be willing to work

with other groups if needed. Staff may be asked to embrace new roles.

Coordination of field projects to make sure they meet overarching goals – can’t do everything when an idea

hits someone. Do we have a threshold criteria or set of goals and objectives that projects should meet? Such

as; is there money, land for this project? Is the project worthwhile, or can it be justified? Should we be doing

this particular project?

More on-farm research using GPS/ GIS systems similar to the way Bob Nielsen at Purdue has spoken of at CCA

meetings. Would require Precision Ag support.

o Cost is minimal, and farmers increasingly have all the equipment necessary.

o Benefit is that by combining many fields and farms, greater data can be gathered. On-farm research

using cooperators teamed with UD agronomy team of experts.

Increase our visibility: How to connect with non-ag here at the REC (is it beneficial that people come to REC

and see what we have versus collaborating with other groups at events away from the REC?) This can be a

double edge sword as far as demands on Carvel.

In seeking outside funding we could continue to promote the story about why the research farm is

important and what happens here

o Maintain a list of all of the projects being done on the research farm and required a report of some

kind to be submitted on the project.

o Farm manager could use to show the value of the farm. Many of us who do work on the farm already

prepare reports on what we do; it would be a matter of getting someone to compile them in one

location e.g. a limited access web-based resource that could include links to reports and publications

that are already exist. Preliminary data that is not ready for publication for clients to access could be

summarized by the researcher and the report would only be accessible internally. ALSO, as we are

going to be implementing a new planning and reporting system there could be a built in check-box to

designate, projects and educational events that use REC facilities.

Full use of technology and distance learning

Volunteers for research programs (USDA Beltsville has extensive volunteer programs to help with plot

maintenance, harvest, etc.). This can present issues in liability and quality control.

On-line courses to juniors and seniors for college credits – more like Academic Challenge – charge AP/college

credits that would generate income to support RBB model.

Grain storage – work the market. Are costs and risks associated with this and is there enough grain to warrant

this cost?

Any ways to maximize income with chicken houses?

Major clean-up; salvage metal/old machinery; bring in some money

Farm market and winery (could use student interns similar to creamery); sell on-farm products, vegetables,

honey, etc. (or could have community farm market as well); health concerns

130

Donate or sell crops we haven’t been selling to local businesses – “buy local.” Problem if sell then we compete

with local producers which could cause bad blood.

Continue to maximize commodity sales; does pose challenges since some crops are destructed due to

research protocol.

Volunteers work toward providing programmatic support/teaching classes

Communication Management Systems (social media)

o Mailing lists for notification of meetings, etc. How to manage

o Snail mail

o E-mail

o Twitter

o Texting

o Facebook

XXII. UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE BOTANIC GARDENS

The major role of the UDBG is as an outdoor laboratory for the university community. Currently, there are more than

35 undergraduate courses, approximately 10 courses from outside CANR, using the gardens. The UDBG’s mission is to

contribute to an understanding of the changing relations between plants and people through education, research, and

community outreach so as to instill an appreciation of plants in the landscape and the natural environment.

Master Plan for Garden

Plant collections o Maintain and improve overall collection pertinent to educational needs. o Improve interpretation with signage in the garden, information on the web and printed brochures for

distribution. o Improve collection records and plant labeling in the garden o Develop a NAPCC collections beginning with Styrax. o Purchase and develop BG Map web application for teaching use o Expand garden area for collections o Naming opportunities for individual Gardens in UDBG to generate endowment

Gardens o Install a series of frequently rotating, small scale idea gardens o Edible plant garden o Expand color trials o Establish additional ecological niche gardens and expand upon existing gardens. o Incorporate the riparian corridor and warm season meadow as part of the UDBG. o Install trails, boardwalks, overlooks in naturalistic areas o Expand space for conifer collection and small flowering trees

Marketing o Increase the number and diversity of courses supported through collaborations with faculty, particularly in

other colleges o Establish additional collaborative projects such as those with Art and Fashion Design. o Market UDBG to broad audience with informational content and sponsored activities in the garden. o Supplement UD courses with additional website content such as plant information and interactive maps.

131

Summer internships o Improve the diversity and educational value of the student’s experience o Fund 3-5 summer internships annually, endow at $125,000 each. o Fund 2 yearlong internships annually, endow at $650,000 each.

Graduate education o Establish MS plant curation program, two students alternating years. o Develop external funding for the program

Programing o Endowed speaker series ($75,000 each) to fund two nationally recognized speakers annually. o Increased short course offering to generate regional recognition and generate additional income. o Provide seasonal themed walks of gardens and natural areas for educational, marketing and fundraising

purposes. o Develop Garden as a regional point of interest for garden clubs and groups with horticultural interest. o Host industry programs, field days to build cooperative and collaborative relationships. o Cosponsor regional programs

Needs to accomplish goals

Equipment o Construct pole building to replace current sheds and protect equipment stored outside o Replace tractor and loader o Replace current utility work vehicle and add second vehicle o Install frost free hydrants in Native garden

Funding o Spring Plant Sale

Sale nets about $40,000, stable over last 3 years Patrons donations raise about $25,000 Educational opportunities generated for students via the sale.

o Fall Sale Sale nets about $12,000 Opportunities to increase income substantially Need a fixed date, conflicts with football tailgating

o Friends dues Generates about $20,000 annually Continue to build membership Build stronger relationships with key donors

o CANR Currently supports the UDBG with $40,000 annually

o Need to increase funding through revenue generation, gifts, and endowments

Staffing o UDBG operates with fewer staff than other university gardens o Increase professional staff

Add maintenance staff, minimum one full time person Increase professional staff from part time to full time

132

APPENDIX A - MASTER PLANNING PROCESS

The process of developing the CANR Master Plan took place during the 2013 calendar year. The following is a list of

significant steps in the process that led to the document. In addition to the key dates listed, the Master Plan was

discussed in the monthly in CANR Administrative team meetings with unit leaders more-or-less continuously

throughout the first half of 2013.

December 7, 2012. Master Plan announced at the CANR Fall Faculty meeting by Dean Rieger.

January, 2013. Programmatic and support unit leaders charged with developing unit-level plans.

February 8, 2013. Agriculture and Family & Consumer Sciences Team Meeting on plan.

February 17-19, 2013. APEC Academic Program Review, input from external review team.

February 29, 2013. Extension Administrative Leadership Team, discussion of plan.

March 10-12, 2013. ENWE APR, input from external review team.

March 26, 2013. Master Plan Town Hall I: Curriculum.

April – June, 2013. Unit-level plans submitted to Dean and revised.

April 22, 2013. Master Plan Town Hall II; Space.

May 1, 2013. Master Plan outline, current status of College shared with CANR Advisory Board.

May 28, 2013. Master Plan Town Hall III: Research and Extension.

June 13, 2013. College of Health Sciences, discussion of Master Plan and opportunities with CANR.

June 20, 2013. CANR Administrative Team Retreat to discuss College’s future.

August 1, 2013. New Castle County Extension meeting, discussion with Extension Director.

August 7, 2013. Extension Ornamental Horticulture, team meeting and discussion.

August 19, 2013. Sussex County Extension, discussion with Extension Director

September-October, 2013. Unit-level plans - second and third revisions submitted, finalized.

September 9, 2013. Kent County Extension, discussions with Extension Director.

September 17, 2013. Master Plan Draft shared with Provost Domenico Grasso.

September 30, 2013. Extension 4-H Team, meeting and discussion.

September 30 – October 2, 2013. ANFS APR, input from external review team.

October 28, 2013. Master Plan Draft released to the College for vetting.

November 15, 2013. Deadline for comments and revisions to the Master Plan from College.

November 26, 2013. Master Plan Draft revised and distributed to CANR Advisory Board.

December 17, 2013. CANR Advisory Board meeting to finalize CANR Master Plan.

February 23-25, 2014. PLSC APR, input from external review team.

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APPENDIX B – EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER INPUT

In addition to the specific events below, Dean Rieger visited each member of the CANR Advisory Board during the

summer of 2013, and made over 50 visits with major and prospective donors where the Master Plan was discussed.

February 12, 2013. Extension Poultry Advisory Committee survey/focus group, Georgetown, DE.

February 17-19, 2013. APEC Academic Program Review, input from external review team.

March 10-12, 2013. ENWE APR, input from external review team.

April 2, 2013. Delaware Soybean Board, discussions with Extension Director.

April 15, 2013. Kent County Extension Advisory Committee, discussions with Extension Director.

May 1, 2013. Master Plan outline, current status of College shared with CANR Advisory Board.

May 6, 2013. New Castle County Farm Bureau, discussions with Extension Director.

September 30 – October 2, 2013. ANFS APR, input from external review team.

October 1, 2013. ANFS stakeholder dinner hosted by Dean Rieger; in conjunction with ANFS departmental review.

December 17, 2013. CANR Advisory Board meeting devoted to vetting of Master Plan.

February 23-25, 2014. PLSC APR, input from external review team (to be incorporated).

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